Srinagar, March 2 (IANS): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti warned on Saturday that banning the Jamaat-e-Islami will have "dangerous ramifications".

The Peoples Democratic Party leader told the media: "You cannot imprison an ideology or an idea. There are thousands of Kashmiris in villages and cities associated with the Jamaat. It is s socio-religious organisation.

"Children studying in Jamaat-run schools have been securing positions in exams. What will happen to these children after you close their schools?"

She said that banning the Jamaat could have "dangerous ramifications. By doing this, the BJP is converting Jammu and Kashmir into an open prison.

"We had resisted these moves of the BJP when we were in power with them," she claimed.

She said as the Chief Minister and the Home Minister of the state during the PDP-BJP coalition, she never got any credible intelligence reports about the links of Jamaat workers with the militants.

"An environment has been created in the country in which beating and harassing Kashmiris is celebrated. It is unfortunate and there seems to be nobody to control this."

Mehbooba Mufti said that after IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman was returned to India, it appeared talks would start between India and Pakistan "but war mongering is still continuing in India".