Iltija Mufti, leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and daughter of former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, stirred controversy on Sunday by stating that Hindutva is an illness and associating the slogan Jai Shri Ram with incidents of lynching. Her remarks drew sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“There is a lot of difference between Hindutva and Hinduism. Hindutva is a philosophy of hate that Veer Savarkar spread in India in the 1940s to establish the hegemony of Hindus and the philosophy was that India belongs to Hindus and is for Hindus. Like Islam, Hinduism is also a religion that promotes secularism, love and compassion. So, let’s not deliberately distort it. The slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ is not about ‘Ramrajya’ but it is being linked to lynching… It is very shameful that Hinduism is being distorted… I criticized Hindutva as an illness,” Iltija Mufti said, as reported by news agency ANI.
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The BJP responded strongly, with its leader Ravindra Raina calling her remarks “very derogatory” and demanding an apology. “PDP leader has used a very derogatory language. This kind of language should not be used. There might be differences of opinion in politics, but derogatory language should not be used… PDP leader Iltija Mufti should apologise for her remarks,” Raina asserted.
Iltija Mufti first came into the spotlight in 2019 when her mother was detained ahead of the abrogation of Article 370. During that period, she managed her mother’s social media profiles.
In the recent Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly elections, Iltija contested from the Bijbehara constituency but was defeated by National Conference candidate Bashir Ahmad Shah Veeri.
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