‘In these dark times…’: Mufti writes to Stalin, Mamata and Siddaramaiah for their stand on Waqf Act

In her letters, Mufti said that India is facing a growing threat of majoritarianism that is impacting the minorities, especially Muslims. “For over a decade, India has faced a growing majoritarian tide threatening its core values of plurality and diversity. While most citizens reject this agenda, those promoting hatred and division now hold power targeting our Constitution, institutions and secular fabric,” she said.

“Minorities, particularly Muslims, have borne the brunt, most recently through the arbitrary enforcement of new Waqf laws which undermine our religious freedoms,” she wrote.

Mufti termed the new law a continuation of earlier actions like the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and “downgrading” of the state into two union territories.

“These actions echo earlier injustices such as the abrogation of special status and dismemberment of Jammu & Kashmir and reflect a broader pattern of systemic erosion of rights,” Mufti wrote in her letters.

Mufti’s letters to the three chief ministers come after a bitter war of words between the ruling National Conference and rival Peoples Democratic Party over the J&K assembly not discussing the new law.

While the National Conference legislators and some non-BJP opposition members brought an adjournement motion to discuss the Waqf Act in the assembly, speaker Abdul Rahim Rather – one of the most senior members of the National Conference – disallowed any kind of debate, saying that the matter is sub judice.

The opposition, however, accused the National Conference and its speaker of deliberately sabotaging any debate on the Act, calling it a “fixed match”.

PDP leaders have often referred to the stand taken by Stalin and Mamata Banerjee and accused the National Conference of not allowing the discussion on the Bill in the only Muslim majority state.