Srinagar, 30 June (H.S.): People's Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday alleged that party leaders and workers across the Kashmir Valley were placed under house arrest to prevent them from holding a peaceful protest against the outsourcing of government jobs.

In a post on X, Mehbooba accused the National Conference (NC)-led government of adopting a selective approach by claiming it has no control over the police when questions of accountability arise, while allegedly coordinating with the police to suppress peaceful protests.

The NC government repeatedly hides behind the excuse that the Police Department is beyond its control whenever questions of accountability arise. Yet, whenever young people peacefully raise their voices for justice, be it the rationalisation of reservations or opposing backdoor appointments, the same government functions in complete coordination with the police to crush every democratic expression of dissent, she said.

She alleged that the government's hypocrisy stood fully exposed as PDP leaders and workers across the Valley were allegedly placed under house arrest to stop them from protesting against the outsourcing of government jobs.

This selective helplessness exposes their duplicity. Their duplicity is further exposed when departments such as Housing, Revenue and Forest readily enlist police assistance to demolish the homes of poor and vulnerable families in the name of anti-encroachment drives, the former Chief Minister added.

Earlier in the day, the PDP alleged that its Baramulla district president, Mohammad Rafique Rather, was placed under house arrest ahead of the party's proposed district-level protest.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar