Govt promised to replace stones with laptops, but Kashmiri youth pushed to become suicide bomber: Mehbooba

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday, November 16, 2025, said the Centre’s promise to replace stones with laptops for Kashmiri youth has failed as “youths have turned into suicide bombers due to government policies”.

He cited the case of Pulwama resident Umar Nabi, a medical doctor who allegedly blew up a vehicle in front of the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 11 and died in the explosion. “The government promised to replace stones with laptops for Kashmiri youth. Instead, Kashmiri youth are being pushed to become suicide bombers. They promised to make Kashmir safe, but even Delhi is now unsafe. This is because of the policies followed,” he said.

Addressing party workers in Srinagar, Ms Mufti urged Kashmiri youth to avoid the path of “violence and destruction”. He said: “We do not want Kashmiri youth to die, but to live to see a happy Kashmir again. It disturbed me to see well-educated Kashmiri doctors and engineers turning to violence. This is dangerous for both Kashmir and the country. The first repercussions of such incidents are borne only by Kashmir and its society.”

‘Reconsider Vajpayee’s Kashmir policy’

He urged the Center to rethink its Kashmir policy. “Nationalists in India need to rethink. BJP leader and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had chalked out a path and roadmap for Kashmir. Mr. Vajpayee was a nationalist. His roadmap was reversed by the Center in 2019 instead of following Mr. Vajpayee,” Ms. Mufti said and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reconsider the Vajpayee approach towards Kashmir.

He said the Centre’s removal of J&K’s special status in 2019 was an attack on the dignity of the people of J&K. “The people of Kashmir have been betrayed after 70 years. The attack has not stopped. After 2019, J&K has been turned into an open prison. A journalist is summoned if he reports and a protester over the water crisis is threatened with the Public Safety Act and UAPA.” [Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act]said Ms. Mufti.

‘Daily humiliation’

He also questioned the policy of blowing up terrorists’ houses. “I was told that Dr. Ömer [Nabi]’s father is mentally unstable. His mother struggled to raise money for her son’s education. You decided to blow up the house. What will this achieve?” he asked.

He said Kashmiri faces humiliation every day and is banned from speaking. “When people suffocate, they will find a way to ventilate elsewhere,” said Ms. Mufti.

He warned that when BJP leaders say things like ‘Marry Muslim women, we will provide you with jobs’, they are perceived as an insult by Kashmir’s Generation Z youth. “How many Muslim shops and houses will be demolished? How many will be deported on the grounds that they are Bangladeshis? What will you do with the 25 crore Muslims in India?” Ms. Mufti asked.