According to former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, the administration in Jammu and Kashmir allegedly coerced government employees to attend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Srinagar.
The event, titled 'Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir', drew a massive crowd to Srinagar's Bakshi Stadium. Notably, this marked PM Modi's inaugural visit to Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370.
Mufti took to X to express her concerns, asserting that employees were "forcibly mobilized" and made to assemble as early as 5 am in freezing temperatures, with buses waiting for them at the Budgam bus stand.
In her tweet, Mufti lamented the situation, emphasizing that employees were being compelled to create a false narrative of normalcy post-2019, despite the underlying disempowerment and humiliation experienced by the people.
Drawing a comparison with the visits of previous prime ministers such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Dr Manmohan Singh during the peak of insurgency, Mufti remarked that those occasions instilled hope among the populace. However, she contended that PM Modi's rally aimed to highlight the purported benefits of the Article 370 abrogation, further exacerbating the wounds of the Kashmiri people.
Similarly, Omar Abdullah criticized the "dictatorial" tactics of the J&K government, alleging that employees faced threats of disciplinary action if they failed to attend the rally. He highlighted the mandatory participation enforced by department heads, with assembly as early as 4:30 to 5:30 am, and the commandeering of private school buses for transportation.
Overall, Mufti and Abdullah's remarks underscored their skepticism regarding the motivations behind PM Modi's visit and the methods employed to generate a sizable crowd for the event.
