Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti took oath as an MLA here today, almost a week after winning the Anantnag by-poll.
In an emphatic speech made on the floor of the state Assembly, Mehbooba Mufti said that she did not subscribe to the idea of those who resorted to violence in the name of religion.
“Jo log chaaku utha kar allah o akbar kehte hain unko main Islam se nahi jodungi (There are people who are beheading others while shouting Allah-o-Akbar(God is great); is that Islam? Should I say that is Islam?)" she said.
"This violence has served no purpose. So many people have died including security forces and civilians,” the first woman CM of the state said, adding that “Kashmir was being defamed by these repeated acts of violence”.
The CM’s remark comes few days after the opposition National Conference attacked her over her alleged remark where she said she was "ashamed as a Muslim".
Recalling the values and vision of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for the state, Mehbooba said the former had set an agenda aimed at fostering peace and development in the state.
"There is an agenda, an agenda of an alliance agreed upon by the PDP and its ally. We should stick to that and follow it diligently," she said in her address to the J&K Assembly after taking oath.
Eight candidates, including Mehbooba Mufti, Hilal Ahmad Shah of the Congress and Iftikhar Hussain Misgar of the National Conference were in the fray for Anantnag seat. Mehbooba defeated her nearest Congress rival Hilal Shah by over 12,000 votes. The by-election in Anantnag took place following the death of the then chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who represented the constituency in the 87-member legislative House.
