‘Kashmir’s troubles echoed at Red Fort’: Mehbooba Mufti blames Centre after Delhi blast

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir People’s Democratic Party (JKPDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti launched a sharp attack on the Central Government alleging that the Novembner 10 Red Fort blast case in the national capital reflects a deepening sense of insecurity across the country and a failure of the Centre’s policies in Jammu & Kashmir.

Twelve people lost their lives and several others were injured in the November 10 Red Fort blast in the National Capital While addressing a Working Group Meeting in Srinagar on November 16, the PDP chief said, “You (Central government) told the world that everything is alright in Kashmir, but the troubles of Kashmir echoed right in front of the Red Fort.”

“You promised to make J&K safe, but instead of fulfilling that promise, your policies have made Delhi unsafe. I don’t know how many people in the Central Government are true nationalists… If a well-educated youth, a doctor, kills himself and others by strapping RDX to his body, it means there is no safety in the nation. You may get votes by doing Hindu-Muslim politics, but in which direction is the nation heading?”

#WATCH | Srinagar, J&K | PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti says, “…You told the world that everything is alright in Kashmir, but the troubles of Kashmir echoed right in front of the Red Fort. You promised to make J&K safe, but instead of fulfilling that promise, your policies have made… pic.twitter.com/lFcqV5uFOR

— ANI (@ANI) November 17, 2025

She further alleged that divisive politics has taken precedence over national security. “You may get votes by doing Hindu-Muslim politics, but in which direction is the nation heading?” she asked.

“I don’t know if the people in Delhi understand this, or do they think that the more Hindu-Muslims division there is, the more bloodshed there will be, the more polarisation there will be in the country, the more voters they will get? I think they should think again. The country is much bigger than a chair”, she said.

She said that “somewhere, that poisonous environment is also responsible for the youth of Kashmir taking a dangerous path”. “I want to say again to the youth who do this that what you do is wrong in every way. It is dangerous not only for you, but it is also dangerous for your family, for Jammu and Kashmir, and for the whole country. You are taking such a big risk because you are ruining your loved ones’ lives. The lives of many innocent people are at stake. This has been hurting me a lot for the last few days” Mufti said.

Earlier, Union Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that (terror) modules are being busted and hailed the security forces for recovering the incriminating materials after arresting the terrorists.

Singh told reporters here, “Six people have been arrested, and the investigation is going on, and all the accused will not be spared. Our government will expose the accused at all levels… We cannot comment on when or how this RDX was brought it. It could be here for years. Investigation is underway. Modules are being busted. Drugs are being recovered… It is the success of our agencies that incriminating materials in such large quantities were seized and terrorists were arrested.”

A team from the Faridabad Crime Branch brought a young man to Al-Falah University on Sunday as part of ongoing verification exercises linked to the Faridabad terror module.Investigations into the case are still under way.

Earlier, Intelligence agencies uncovered a Rs 20 lakh fund trail linked to three doctors, Umar, Muzammil, and Shaheen. Intelligence sources said that the amount is suspected to have been routed by a Jaish-e-Mohammed handler through a hawala network.

Of this, around Rs 3 lakh is believed to have been spent on purchasing 26 quintals of NPK fertiliser, a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium-based chemical compound used in agriculture, which is also capable of producing explosives used in the blast.

Officials further revealed that tensions had reportedly emerged between Dr Umar-un-Nabi and Dr Shaheen over the handling of the funds. Sources added that a key lead was obtained from Muzammil, helping investigators piece together the financial links behind the conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police sources confirmed that three cartridges recovered from the site, two live and one empty, were of 9mm calibre, a firearm type prohibited for civilian possession and used by security forces.

A senior official said that despite the cartridge recovery, no pistol or any of its parts were found at the scene. “These cartridges are usually only possessed by the armed forces or those with special permission,” police said.

According to sources, no pistol or any part of it was found at the scene…meaning the cartridges were found, but the weapon used to fire them has not yet been found.The official said that they are now trying to determine how these cartridges came to be there, whether the suspect possessed them. (ANI)