Mehbooba Mufti says J&K acceded to India on ‘terms of trust, not suspicion'

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India in 1947 was rooted in trust, constitutional assurances and a commitment to protecting the region’s distinct identity.

Addressing party workers on Accession Day, Mufti said Sheikh Abdullah’s endorsement of the accession had reassured people that India would respect their political aspirations and composite culture.

She said safeguards associated with Articles 370 and 35A were intended to protect the region’s identity, land and employment opportunities, not to separate it from India.

Recalling the events surrounding Partition, Mufti said Jammu and Kashmir’s accession reflected the vision of India’s founding leadership, which she described as committed to a secular nation. She also pointed to the political fallout surrounding Sheikh Abdullah in 1953 as a turning point in the relationship between Kashmir and the Indian leadership.

“We do not know what went wrong, but by 1953, Sheikh Abdullah had turned against this arrangement,” she said, linking the subsequent political developments to growing mistrust.

Mufti criticised the BJP over the abrogation of Article 370 and questioned the portrayal of relative calm in the region as a political achievement.

“We are not permitted to hold protests on the streets, and the BJP is presenting this ‘enforced peace’ as a victory,” she said, adding that Kashmir’s situation should serve as a warning to the rest of India.

Emphasising Jammu and Kashmir’s diverse cultural and demographic identity, she said the accession was based on the expectation that the region’s distinctiveness would be protected.

“Our land is limited, and we also wanted to protect the employment opportunities available to our people,” she said.

Mufti urged people across India to reflect on the commitments made to Jammu and Kashmir, arguing that Accession Day should serve as a reminder of the trust and assurances that underpinned the region’s relationship with the Union.