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Entitled to fight for Article 370’s restoration, says Iltija
Iltija went to police station Kothi Bagh in the afternoon even as a large number of party workers had assembled as a mark of support at the nearby party headquarters in Srinagar
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti was questioned by police on Friday regarding FIR number 63 over the alleged assault of police officials during a party protest on August 4.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter, Iltija Mufti, have been booked for allegedly assaulting police officials during the party’s protest against the abrogation of Article 370.
According to the first information report (FIR), a case under sections 132, 121 and 191(2) of the Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at Kothibagh police station.
Iltija went to police station Kothi Bagh in the afternoon even as a large number of party workers had assembled as a mark of support at the nearby party headquarters in Srinagar.
“As you know, I was called to the Kothibagh police station, and I told the police that we are happy to cooperate with whatever they want to know. Our larger issue is the special status of J&K under Article 370, and this is not just an issue for Mehbooba Mufti or Iltija Mufti. Here, the police not only call in the youth, but our jails are also full of people from J&K—including those from UP and J&K prisons like Kot Bhalwal, Amphala, Jammu, and the Central Jail,” Iltija said at the party headquarters
“If there is some investigation on me, I am willing to cooperate but I am not the first or last Kashmiri on whom police summon has been served. I am here to fight for every Kashmiri. This is not my personal fight,” she said.
“For every Kashmiri, jail and arbitrary detention has become a right of passage and today I have experienced that somewhere in my own way,” she said.
The FIR read that PDP workers, led by Mehbooba Mufti and Iltija Mufti, turned “aggressive” and attacked the police party. “They criminally used force against the police party, obstructed them in the discharge of their official duties, and also resorted to pushing and manhandling. As a result, several police officials sustained injuries,” the FIR read.
Iltija said that she was not an ant-inational. “J&K used to have two flags- one Indian flag and one state flag. This was all within the ambit of the Indian constitution. I am not an anti national. I am not committing an act of sedition,” she said.
Iltija said that as an Indian citizen she was entitled to fight peacefully for the restoration of Article 370. “I want to tell the Indian government that what I am doing is not illegal. I will keep on fighting for the rights of people of J&K and if for that I will have to go to jail, I am ready,” she said.
Mehbooba Mufti addressed the party workers saying that FIRs were about Mehbooba Mufti or Iltija Mufti as individuals. “It is about silencing every voice that speaks for the rights of the people of J&K and questions the unconstitutional abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A,” Mehbooba said.
Mehbooba alleged that targeting her party was allegedly started in 2019. “Didn’t the National Conference protest? Why didn’t anything happen to them? Congress also protested and others protested. But here talking about Article 370 has become a crime,” she said.
