Bilal Bashir Bhat Follow @bilalbashirbhat
Srinagar, 14 Oct (Only Kashmir): This is not a story related to glamour world, however, a moment of observance wherein erstwhile Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir State Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday appeared in a green dress with black strips soon after she was released from house detention.
The green color has the Islamic connotations and is symbolic and related to ritualistic worship in Kashmir widely; as a result the green color plays a significant role to attract the masses in Kashmir and is time and again used, sometimes abused and exploited by the politicians for political gains.
Even in the Public Safety Act dossier against Mehbooba Mufti under which she was detained for long 435 days, it was mentioned that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s green flag reflects the “radical origin,” as such today Mehbooba’s appearance with green dress is a deliberate attempt to deliver a silent statement.
Peoples Democratic Party’s “love” with green has always been the subject of controversy, with its symbol having green background (ink pot and pen) which earlier was the election symbol of Muslim United Front, an amalgam of several parties including Jamaat-e-Islami which fought the “rigged” elections against the National Conference-Congress alliance in 1987.
The green color in Kashmir has so much significance that even in April, 2019 parliamentary elections, the right wing Hindu Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) which is symbolized by saffron color, opted to go green. The party extensively used green color in its poll campaigning material like posters to attract voters since the local population identifies with the this color shade.
“Yes, exactly, there is a deep message in her dress, Madam wore today, the green reflects the respect towards the sentiment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir while as the black strips in the dress exhibits the protest against the development on Aug 05 last year,” a leader of Peoples Democratic Party told Onlykashmir[dot]in.
Meanwhile on social media besides positive feedback many netizens termed this act as merely a stunt that they term as befooling people in the name of green color. It is what the politicians are best at, articulated few others.
