Agencies
Srinagar, Feb 8: The dossier used to charge former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti under the Public Safety Act states that “confidential reports” suggested she was “collaborating with separatists”, The Hindu reported on Saturday.
Apart from Mufti, her party colleague Sartaj Madni, and National Conference leaders Omar Abdullah and Ali Muhammad Sagar were also charged under the Act on Thursday. The law allows detention without a trial for three to six months.
The dossier also mentions tweets, where she called for “dignity to militants after death” and accused “the Army of using chemical weapons against them.”
The dossier also includes public remarks she allegedly made against the Army, and her alleged pro-militant tweets. It also mentions the Peoples Democratic Party chief’s tweets opposing the criminalisation of instant triple talaq, and remarks about the lynchings of Muslims across India.
The controversial speeches made by Mufti and Abdullah about the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status were also listed in the document that labelled her a “vocal critic” of the Centre’s move in the region.
In a speech in July 2019, Mufti reportedly said “tampering with Article 35A would be akin to lighting a powder keg”. She warned that any such move would engulf those who attempt it. In another, the former chief minister allegedly said: “No one will be left in Jammu and Kashmir to unfurl the tricolour if Article 370 goes.”
The dossier on Abdullah’s detention also cites his speeches in defense of Articles 370 and 35A in the past few years along with his warning that any revocation of Kashmir’s special constitutional status would reopen the debate on the Instrument of Accession.
The dossier used to justify Madni’s detention mentions his role in mobilising protests against the alleged Shopian rape and murder of 2009, according to The Economic Times. It reportedly mentions he had managed to get people to vote at the peak of militancy in the 1990s.
Security agencies and magistrates are reportedly preparing dossiers to book more mainstream politicians under the Public Safety Act in the coming days.
Several Opposition leaders have questioned the government’s move to charge Mufti and Abdullah under the stringent law. The National Conference has called the government’s decision “atrocious” and said it was another “blatant illustration of the Centre’s high-handedness”.
Mufti’s daughter said the former chief ministers were not jailed for provocative comments. “Their crime was to question the Centre for its illegal actions in Jammu and Kashmir,” Iltija Mufti added. “Just because BJP intentionally conflates itself with India doesn’t mean it is India. The message is clear. Criticise BJP at your own peril.” (Agencies)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
