National Conference (NC) MP Ruhullah Mehdi in a social media post defended a man who allegedly threatened to burn a Hindu temple while speaking with a female YouTube journalist; instead demanded that the police stop the journalist's reportage in the valley.
Sharing a clip from the YouTube channel Rajdharm, in which reporter Archana Tiwari interviewed a Kashmiri man, the NC MP criticised the reporter, accusing her of conducting orchestrated interviews.
Responding to the interview clip, he demanded that the Jammu and Kashmir police immediately stop her "communally loaded activities" and her orchestrated interviews and send her to states where the lynching of Muslims is commonplace.
He added, "And she should also be informed that this person has not been taught this by anyone in Kashmir. He must have learned it from the Babri Masjid demolition by hooligans. But let me inform her and her ilk that this is not how Islam works. Any random guy with low IQ (which, by the way, is better than hers) does not represent Islam or Muslims."
What is in the clip?
The YouTube journalist shared the interview clip on X. In the video, Archana asks a Kashmiri man named Mushtaq why the BJP will not get votes in his village. In response, Mushtaq says, "Because they build temples in front of mosques, they took over our mosque, they grabbed our lands, and they gave us rice at high prices."
She then asks if the BJP built a mosque in his village, to which he replies, "They did not build a mosque here, but they opened a liquor shop in Kupwara, which is not good for us."
She then asks if a single Hindu house in the village would bother them. He responds, "Except for the army, if any other Hindu comes here, works, and consumes alcohol, it will not be good for him." She asks what would happen to them. "We will beat them," he replies.
In the video, the reporter further asks Mushtaq what problem he has with the temple, to which Mushtaq replies, "The temple is fine for you, but not here. There are temples in Kupwara and Srinagar, but not in our village."
Archana then asks, "What will you do if someone builds one here in the village?" To this, he replies, "It is not right to build a temple on our land, in our courtyard. If a temple is built, we will burn it down."
