The BJP has demanded an arrest of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for her statement on India’s national flag. In her first interaction with the media since being released from year-long detention, Mufti had said that members of her party would not fly the tricolour until they are allowed to hoist the flag of Jammu and Kashmir. The former chief minister had placed the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir flag in front of her as she interacted with reporters.
Mufti had also said that Kashmiris were not ‘compatible with today’s India.’ “We had acceded to a liberal, democratic, secular India. Let me tell them we are not comfortable, we are incompatible with today’s India where minorities and Dalits are not safe and where they tried to disrespect us by looting our dignity,” news agency PTI quoted her as saying.
PDP President @MehboobaMufti begins her first press conference with the state flag of J&K symbolising her fight & resolve for the rights & dignity of J&K. pic.twitter.com/1tzyhSGAAE
— Tahir Sayeed طاہر سعید (@TahirsyeedK) October 23, 2020
Reacting to her statement, Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina said, “I request Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to take cognisance of seditious remarks of Mehbooba Mufti, book her for the seditious act and put her behind bars.”
Mufti and other top Kashmiri leaders were placed under house arrest as the Indian government revoked Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories on 5 August last year.
LIVE UPDATES on today’s big stories will appear below:
18:28 PM: Lending support to former Chief Minister #MehboobaMufti , Congress leader and former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz on Saturday said Mehbooba’s views on restoration of the flag of the erstwhile state of #JammuandKashmir reflects the wishes of the people. (IANS)
17:35 PM: Congress leader and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot will be campaigning for the party candidates in the Assembly bypolls in Madhya Pradesh: Party statement. (PTI)
17:11 PM: We are anti-BJP, we are not anti-national: NC leader Farooq Abdullah after meeting of Peoples Alliance for Gupkar declaration. (PTI)
16:47 PM: Trashing #BJP senior leadership’s attack on his government as well as Gandhis over Hoshiarpur rape-murder case, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday termed the remarks of Union Ministers #NirmalaSitharaman and Prakash Javadekar as political puffery. (IANS)
15:56 PM: Kejriwal pitches for free COVID vaccine throughout India, saying all people were troubled by coronavirus. (PTI)
15:36 PM: BJP hits out at Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi for their ‘selective outrage’ in cases of atrocities against women as it questioned their ‘silence’ over the alleged rape and killing of a 6-year-old girl in Punjab. (PTI)
14:29 PM: Senior BJP Leader and Former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis tests positive for COVID-19
Those who have come in contact with me are advised to get covid19 tests done.
Take care, everyone !— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) October 24, 2020
14:02 PM: The Election Commission has moved the Supreme Court challenging an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court which put various conditions in holding physical gatherings by political parties for campaigning in assembly bye-polls in the state. (Live Law)
13:24 PM: No rape should be politicised. But because we want our political games to be played, we are selective about voicing horror when it is in some states & remain in absolute silence when it is in states governed by Congress party: Union Minister & BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman. (ANI)
LIVE: Smt @nsitharaman is addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi. https://t.co/GkLaF47svO
— BJP (@BJP4India) October 24, 2020
10:58 AM: Colombian Vice President #MartaLuciaRamirez confirmed that she has tested positive for the novel #coronavirus and would be isolated in her home for 15 days. (IANS)
10:03 AM: 53,370 new infections, 650 fatalities push India’s COVID-19 caseload to 78,14,682, death toll to 1,17,956: Union Health Ministry. (PTI)
09:32 AM: Total 10,13,82,564 samples tested for #COVID19 up to 23rd October. Of these, 12,69,479 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). (ANI)