Response to Pahalgam feels like sweeping crackdown: Mehbooba to L-G

PDP (People's Democratic Party) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday wrote to Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant-governor Manoj Sinha and said security agencies' response to the Pahalgam terror attack appeared to be a "sweeping and indiscriminate crackdown", pointing to hundreds being detained or booked under the stringent Public Safety Act.

With the Amarnath Yatra approaching, Mehbooba also sought Sinha's intervention in putting an end to the policy of arrests and punitive measures and ensure the release of innocents.

"The response from various security agencies that has followed appears less like a focused investigation and more like a sweeping and indiscriminate crackdown. Over 3,000 arrests and nearly 100 Public Safety Act (PSA) detentions have been reported," Mehbooba said in the letter.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state said such numbers were alarming and did not reflect justice but rather a collective form of punishment.

"This approach not only risks alienating families and communities but also begs the question: where will all this lead us to? While we are all unequivocally in favour of justice, the actions currently being undertaken amount to mass retribution," Mehbooba said.

"No democratic and responsible society can or should accept such treatment of its own people. I have long maintained that the people of Kashmir have extended a hand of goodwill," she added.

This is not the first time that Mufti has been vocal on the subject. At the end of last month, as security agencies launched a massive operation against the terror ecosystem active in Jammu and Kashmir, she wrote in an X post, "The Indian government must tread with caution and carefully distinguish between terrorists and civilians following the recent Pahalgam attack. It must not alienate innocent people, especially those opposing terror."

Her sentiments were echoed by Hurriyat Conference chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and People's Conference leader Sajad Lone, who said those handling law and order should do nothing to reverse the mindset that had changed after the Pahalgam attack.

This altered mindset also found mention in a speech by chief minister Omar Abdullah during a special session of the J&K assembly on 28 April to condemn the attack.

"Militancy, terror or terrorism will finish when people are with us. Given people's outrage against the terror attack, this is the beginning of its end if we take proper steps," Abdullah said in his speech. "We should not take any step or action that will alienate people. We cannot control a terrorist with a gun but we can end terrorism if people are with us. I think that time has come when people are heading towards that stage."

It is now for the rest of the nation to respond in kind, the PDP supremo asserted. "It is deeply disheartening that the actions of a few terrorists are now determining how security agencies respond to the situation and go on a spree of arrests of innocent civilians," she said.

The nation is grieving the tragic and cowardly terror attack in Pahalgam and this heinous act has been widely condemned across the country, more so by the people of Kashmir, Mehbooba said.

"In fact, we went a step further by observing a complete shutdown and hitting the streets in protest. This spontaneous response marked a significant and heartening shift — for the first time, Kashmiris openly defied terrorism and stood united with the nation during this critical time," she said.

With the Amarnath Yatra approaching, Mehbooba requested the lieutenant-governor to intervene and put an end to this policy of arrests and punitive measures and ensure the release of innocents. "Let the people of Kashmir breathe easy and prepare to welcome the 'yatris' with the warmth and hospitality they are well recognised for," she added.

With PTI inputs