FIR Against Mehbooba Mufti Intimidation, Says Daughter Iltija

SRINAGAR: PDP leader Iltija Mufti on Wednesday termed the registration of an FIR against her mother and party president Mehbooba Mufti as an “intimidation”, but said they will not take it lying down.

She said such tactics by the administration will not stop the party from speaking truth.

Police filed an FIR against Mehbooba on May 25, the day she protested against the detention of the PDP workers and election agents.

“An FIR has been registered against Mufti for MCC (model code of conduct) violation. This is intimidation and we are not going to take it lying down,” Iltija, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) media adviser, told reporters here.

“We will not kneel our knees. We are here to speak truth,” she added.

Referring to the sit-in protest by Mufti on Saturday when polling was going on in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat of Jammu and Kashmir (J-K), Iltija said her mother did not want to create a scene. Mehbooba wanted to protest against the detention of her party workers and election agents, she said.

“When a former chief minister has to hit the streets, what does it say about democracy?” she questioned.

The PDP leader alleged that hours before the voting, police picked up the PDP activists and election agents and then labelled them as over ground workers (OGWs) of the militants.

Like the 1990s, police picked them up on the night before polling. Cordon and search operations were launched in only those places which were traditional bastions and strongholds of the PDP, Iltija said.

“Then they were labelled as OGWs. How dare you slander our boys?

“These boys play an important role in mobilising voters. They want to keep the flag of democracy high but you are labelling them as OGWs,” she added.

Iltija said the Centre, in “cohorts” with the J-K adminstration, wanted to “create terror in the areas, which have been traditional bastions of the PDP, to decrease voting”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated the people on the polling percentage but the truth is that they tried to keep the polling percentage low, she alleged.

“You played mischief in Pulwama also,” Iltija said, adding the government wanted to “tacitly rig” the elections in South Kashmir because “they fear Mufti”.

She asked the administration not to detain the PDP workers.

“You dare not touch our boys. We will not allow you to take out funeral of democracy,” she said. (PTI)