Being a “Daddy’s girl”, having a green-coloured flag for the party and ‘pro-separatist’ tweets on social media – these were some points based on which the Public Security Act was slapped against former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Mehbooba Mufti.
Citing the dossier, Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, in a series of tweets on Sunday, 9 February, asked why the BJP had formed an alliance with PDP in 2014 if the party’s origin was “dubious”. She further pointed out that JD(U), an ally of the BJP, has a green flag as well.
Mehbooba has been slapped with the PSA for her remarks which included challenging the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India in case Article 370 was abrogated.
The statements of the former chief minister, whose party PDP was an ally of the BJP till June 2018, on security forces killing militants, have been included in the PSA dossier against her.
Her support to the Jamaat-e-Islamia group of Jammu and Kashmir after it was declared a banned organisation by the Centre under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) also figures in the dossier.
Srinagar District Magistrate denied Iltija’s statements, saying none of the remarks were mentioned in the dossier, tweeted senior journalist Ahmed Ali Fayyaz.
‘Hard Headed, Scheming Person’
The government dossier, Iltija Mufti tweeted, accused her mother of “promoting separatism” and said she is recognised as a “hard headed & scheming person” and is known for “dangerous & insidious machinations”.
The dossier reportedly also compares her to a "medieval historical figure who usurped power by poisoning her opponents".
Why PSA Against Mufti
Mufti, along with Omar Abdullah, had been under preventive detention since 5 August last year, when the Centre announced the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and the bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two Union Territories – Ladakh, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Both Mufti and Abdullah were booked under the PSA on 6 February night , a few hours before their preventive detention was to end.
As per the rules, preventive detention can be extended beyond six months only if an advisory board, constituted two weeks before the completion of the 180-day period, recommends the same.