Srinagar, Jul 16: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma blaming Muslims for price rise shows the utter failure of the BJP-led government to control unemployment and inflation.

The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister added that while the judiciary took action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for raising questions on corruption, it should also take suo-motu notice of Sarma's remarks.

"Assam CM blaming Muslims for crippling price rise shows BJP's utter failure on unemployment, inflation and lack of development. Himanta Biswa is openly urging Hindus to forcibly take away even their meagre forms of livelihood -- vegetable vendors and kirhana shops.

"While the judiciary took quick action against Rahul Gandhi for raising legitimate questions on corruption, what stops them from taking suo moto notice of the Assam CM's fire stoking statements...," Mufti wrote on Twitter.

Responding to reporters' questions on the high price of vegetables in Guwahati, Sarma recently said, "Vegetables are not priced so high in villages. Here, the Miya vendors charge us more. Had it been Assamese vendors selling vegetables, they would not have fleeced their own people."

"I will clear all the footpaths of Guwahati and I urge our Assamese people to come forward and start their businesses," he had added.

Miya is originally a pejorative term used for Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam. In recent years, activists from the community have started adopting this term in a gesture of defiance.

Opposition parties in Assam have slammed Sarma for his comments, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader of playing communal politics.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.

It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.

Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.

Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.

Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.