Mehbooba Mufti Admits 'Slip of the Tongue,' Issues Unconditional Apology After Outrage Over Jantar Mantar Remark

Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday has issued an unconditional apology after her remark at Jantar Mantar last week triggered outrage, admitting that her words were a slip of the tongue and had unintentionally hurt public sentiments. 

Speaking at a press conference in Srinagar, Mufti clarified that her statement, “Kashmir ka to banta hai” was incomplete and miscommunicated.

While addressing a press conference at her party Headquarters here, she explained that she meant to say “bahana banta hai”; that security forces often find an excuse for violence but mistakenly left out the word bahana.

“I wanted to say ‘it’s just an excuse,’ but my sentence came out wrong,” she said, adding that the viral clip was genuine and the error was entirely hers.

Rejecting her party’s earlier claims that the video was AI-generated, Mufti confirmed the footage was real. She admitted the mistake occurred during a student-led protest in Delhi, where she condemned police action against local demonstrators but compared it to Kashmir’s history of pellet gun use during terrorism.

Meanwhile, National Conference vice president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, has sharply criticized Mehbooba Mufti’s recent remarks, insisting that such statements from a former chief minister weaken public resolve and discourage ordinary citizens from fighting for their rights. He said Mufti should have “stayed home” instead of attending the Jantar Mantar protest.

Abdullah argued that when leaders justify the use of force in Kashmir under the pretext of terrorism, it undermines people’s confidence in demanding justice and statehood.

“When a former chief minister says use of force is justified, who will come out to fight for their rights?” he asked, adding that her presence at Jantar Mantar was not for Jammu and Kashmir’s cause but for a student-led protest.

He accused Mufti of defending misuse of power and questioned her logic; “Should children not get justice because there is terrorism? Should passports be stopped because there is terrorism? Should laws not be implemented because there is terrorism? I could not understand how it is justified,".