Srinagar, April 07 (KNS): Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, has been issued a "country-specific passport" for two years, enabling her to study in the United Arab Emirates
Iltija had moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in February after her passport application was not cleared following an adverse report by the J-K Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
Addressing a press conference here at Srinagar, she claimed that the authorities had misled the judiciary and that the document issued to her was a "conditional passport." She said that despite being an Indian citizen and a law-abiding citizen, she was being treated like a terrorist, anti-national, or a fugitive.
She claimed that the Official Secrets Act, which is typically used for espionage, had been invoked against her even to issue a two-year passport. “Am I a fugitive?, am I a terrorist, anti-national that I am being punished? If I talk about the central government, is it like talking against the country? What is my fault?” she asked.
Iltija asked why the CID had submitted an adverse report in a sealed cover and invoked the Official Secrets Act if there was nothing substantial against her.
Iltija asserted that she would continue to fight her case in court despite pressure to withdraw her petition. She alleged that some CID officers were bringing "disgrace and disrepute" to the department and that they were harassing and persecuting Kashmiris.
She stated that the government wanted to make an example out of her family to stop people from raising their voice.
Iltija claimed that Kashmir was on "auto-pilot mode" and that people did not have the freedom to raise their voice after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
She said that she believed that the CID was criminalizing basic things such as passport issuance at the behest of the Centre. Iltija asked whether she was involved in some Hawala scam or money laundering to be issued a conditional passport.(KNS)