Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas on Saturday asked Mehbooba Mufti, set to head the new PDP-BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir, to clear her stand on Afzal Guru whose hanging for his alleged role in the 2001 parliament attack she has said was wrong.
Vishwas in a letter to Mehbooba also asked the would-be Kashmir chief minister to facilitate the arrest of Kashmiri youth who had allegedly raised anti-India slogans in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on February 9.
“We have come to know that you are going to form a coalition government with the BJP. But your stands on certain issues like holding parliament attack accused Afzal Guru a martyr cannot be agreed with. Now, we have come to know that you have changed your old stand on Afzal,” Vishwas wrote.
“Congratulations in anticipation for your government formation. You should voluntarily give a statement in the media that you hold Afzal Guru as a traitor and not as a martyr,” Vishwas said.
The letter begins with “Vandemataram” and ends with “Jai Hind” and “Bharat Mata ki Jay” — slogans that have rekindled the nationalism and patriotism debate in India.
“Now that you believe Kashmir to be an integral part of India, you would facilitate the arrest of the Kashmiri youth who raised slogans against mother India in JNU,” the AAP leader wrote.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), being led by Mehbooba, is set to form a coalition government with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Vishwas’s letter was retweeted by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.