Mehbooba apologizes for 2016 comment

Srinagar, Jan 7 (IANS) On her father's death anniversary on Monday, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti apologized for an insensitive comment she made in 2016 about the local youths. In July 2016, while addressing a press conference with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Srinagar, when asked about the killings of youths in firing by security forces, she said: "Those youths were not going to Army camps and police stations to buy toffee and milk." Over 100 youths were killed in 2016 during the unrest that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. Addressing party workers on the death anniversary of her father, Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, she said on Monday: "I was concerned about my children being pushed to rallies where they get injured. "Didn't I have this right to tell these children in a loud voice that you were a part of my rallies, why were you asked to stand in front of the protest demonstrations where you, God forbid, get injured. Still, I apologize. What else can I do?" The statement by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader has come desertions by senior party leaders. On Sunday, senior PDP leader and former Minister Mustafa Mir and a aormer MLA, Abbas Wani, resigned from the party.
--IANS sq/mr