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‘Dissent is being criminalised’: Mehbooba Mufti after ED questioning
Without naming the BJP, Mufti said that the country is being run as per the agenda of a political party.
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, soon after being questioned by the officials of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case, today said that the country is not ruled according to the constitution and dissent has been criminalised.
Without naming the BJP, Mufti said that the country is being run as per the agenda of a political party.
The ED had first summoned Mufti to Delhi for investigation in the money laundering case. However, she refused to travel to the national capital due to Covid-19. On Thursday, she was questioned at the ED office Rajbagh for five hours, soon after she went there at 11 am.
After coming out, the PDP chief said that she was questioned about the land and property of his father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed at Bijbhera in south Kashmir and other related details including how that was sold and how much money was received. “I was questioned about the funds as the chief minister and any money spent on youth engagement programs and how that was done,” she said.
“This country is ruled either by the ED, the CBI or the NIA, either you are charged in sedition or money laundering and whosoever talks on issues EDI/CBI or NIA is used against him. This country is not running according to the constitution of India, it’s running according to the agenda of a particular party. Dissent has been criminalised in the country,” she said.
The former chief minister said that she has nothing to hide. “My hands are clean and have nothing to hide. It took them two years to search things and now they are asking details about my father’s land or how much money was spent on the mausoleum of my father. They’re asking about the secret fund, how it was used and the widows who got the fund. Our party PDP will remain steadfast on its agenda for which the party was formed,” she stated.
Mufti was summoned for questioning by the ED on March 15 in a money laundering case when a team of the federal agency reached the PDP chief’s Fairview residence with the summons.
Soon after the ED officials’ visit to her house, Mufti had said in a tweet that such short-sighted scheming would not work.
“GOI’s tactics to intimidate and browbeat political opponents to make them toe their line has become tediously predictable. They don’t want us to raise questions about its punitive actions and policies. Such short-sighted scheming won’t work.”
Earlier, she had said that she was ready to appear before the ED in Srinagar for any sort of investigations. However, due to Covid-19, she declined to travel to New Delhi.
Since her release, Mufti has been vocal against the Centre, especially the BJP government, for the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A. She even said that her party’s fight is not for Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood but for the special status which was taken away by the Centre on August 5, 2019.
She is the second former chief minister of J&K to appear before the ED after Srinagar MP and former CM Farooq Abdullah who appeared before the ED officials at Rajbagh.
