New Delhi, Dec 7 : President of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti Today  launched a scathing attack against the Union government, stating that Gandhi’s India was turning into “Godse’s India”.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile state further said that Jammu and Kashmir was a “laboratory” and what was done in the state, would be replicated in the rest of the country. She also said that she will not contest polls till Article 370 and 35 A are restored.

“It feels Gandhi’s India has become Godse’s India,” Mufti said at a press conference at Indian Women’s Press Corps here.

Attacking the BJP-led government at the Centre, Mufti said, “They are not running a democratic government. They are running a government with a colonial mindset. They have made J&K laboratory, what is being done there, is also being done in the rest of the country. We are not allowed to speak, even if we want to hold a peaceful protest, we are locked inside our homes,” she said.

“The narrative being built is that everything is fine after the repeal of Article 370, the situation has not improved, it has become worse,” she added.

Remembering former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a great statesman, Mufti, who headed the government in J&K in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said they allied with the party because her father, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed wanted a solution for the people of the state.

Asked why her party allied with BJP, and not with parties like National Conference and Congress, she said, “My father did not want to be the Chief Minister, he wanted to resolve the problems of Kashmir. We wanted to take forward the process Vajpayee started”.

Asked if she believed talks should be held with Pakistan, she cited the example of Vajpayee, and said he held talks with Pakistan even after the Kargil war.

“There is no statesman bigger than Vajpayee. He talked to them even after Kargil. When you can talk to China who has captured our land, why can’t we talk to Pakistan,” she questioned.

“For them, farmers are Khalistani, students are tukde-tukde gang, and we are Pakistanis…,” she said.

She also expressed her reservations about the delimitation process being carried out in Jammu and Kashmir, and said they believed it was being done to turn the situation in favour of BJP. The PDP has said it will not participate in the delimitation exercise.

“They want to carve out constituencies to suit their own political interests. Why could they not wait till 2026 for the delimitation like rest of the country. Their hurry shows there is an agenda,” she said.

Mufti, while reiterating that she will not fight any election until Articles 370 and 35 A are reinstated, added that her party, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party, will fight elections, when they are held.

Referring to the recent incidents when action was taken against Kashmiris who cheered for Pakistan during an India-Pakistan cricket match, Mufti recalled the time of Vajpayee’s, and said citizens of the two countries were cheering for each other.

“I remember a cricket match between India and Pakistan during Vajpayee ji’s era, where citizens of Pakistan were cheering for India and citizens of India were cheering for Pakistan. And former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf also praised the then Indian captain MS Dhoni,” she said, and added that today no lawyer was ready to even take the case of those students.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister also said that dialogue was the only way forward, and said that the “middle ground”, the political parties that were a part of Indian democracy, have been sidelined.

“It was something I had never imagined that the mainstream parties that have faced ire or people when we talked about India, we were obliterated, we were locked,” she said.

In reply to a question of AFSPA, she said its revocation was part of the party’s agenda with BJP when they were in coalition.

“It was a part of our agenda with the BJP. It wasn’t a secret. We believe AFSPA should be repealed in areas where militancy is lesser, it can be a good beginning,” Mufti said.

“We are in a democracy, how long can people be kept together by pointing guns at them?” she said.

She also said that there were no meetings planned with the government or its representatives during her current visit to Delhi. Mufti will be in the national capital till Wednesday.

On Monday, the PDP chief had staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in the national capital.(UNI)