“You talk to militants in the northeast, in Jammu Kashmir, you have turned common people into militants,” she said while addressing a gathering in the held region on Sunday.

On December 23, media reported that three Kashmiris were tortured to death while in Indian army custody. They were among the eight civilians arrested by the army for interrogation in the wake of an attack on two army vehicles in Poonch, according to locals.

Mehbooba criticised the government’s action to arrest so many people and raids conducted by different investigation agencies in the region.

She lamented the way the Modi-led government treated the people in such a way. Mehbooba, who is the head of the regional People’s Democratic Party, advised the government to follow Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who tried to calm the situation and showed a way for separatists to live peacefully in the country.

“Mufti Sb said people of Jammu and Kashmir need peace,” she said, “we will not surrender and will not raise the white flag.”

Mehbooba warned that the use of force would not be accepted.

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In the recent past, the Indian government declared the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat Jammu and Kashmir an “unlawful association” for five years. According to India’s Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah, the group was found “involved in forbidden activities to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India and establish Islamic rule”.

Earlier India had also designated the Muslim League Jammu Kashmir (Masarat Alam faction), or MLJK-MA, as an “unlawful association”.