“Friendly cricket match between India and Pakistan that was solely a source of entertainment for people here bruised by incessant lockdowns, Internet gag and restriction of movement led to booking youngsters under the draconian UAPA for simply choosing to cheer the winning side,” said Mufti, adding: “Our brightest young people pursuing professional courses like MBBS have been targeted and slapped with anti-terror laws.”The PDP chief is also vice-president of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, an amalgam of regional parties led by Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, formed in October 2020 and aimed to strive for restoration of statehood and the special status of J&K.“While within Kashmir youth are no strangers to the state excesses, three students in Agra too have been arrested and charged with sedition for the same reasons. This despite the college’s own admission that they didn’t engage in any activity that might be construed as antinational,” she wrote.The former chief minister requested Modi to intervene so that the future of these students is not destroyed. “Patriotism and sense of loyalty has to be cultivated with compassion and can’t be forced by wielding the baton or by the barrel of a gun. Such punitive actions laced with contempt will only further the sense of mistrust and alienation between the younger generation and rest of the country,” she said.
Source: Economic Times
