SRINAGAR: A day after PDP leader Iltija Mufti posted an old video of late hardline separatist leader and Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani on X, police have registered an FIR against her.
Sources said the Cyber Police Station in Srinagar has registered FIR No. 11 under cognisable offences punishable under Sections 152, 196(1), and 353(1)(b), (c) and (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
“Acting upon credible inputs regarding circulation and dissemination of content (videos) across digital and social media platforms, promoting separatist ideology and propagating false information, with an intent to incite unlawful activities prejudicial to the peace, sovereignty and integrity of India, police has registered a case against certain individuals in this matter,” sources said.
Iltija has been leading the PDP’s protest against the Omar Abdullah government over the dropping of Urdu, one of the official languages of Jammu and Kashmir and a mandatory qualification for revenue services, from the newly amended draft recruitment rules for revenue posts.
She led a protest by party workers on Tuesday and on Wednesday held a press conference to criticise the Omar Abdullah government for removing Urdu as a qualification for recruitment to revenue posts.
The PDP leader had on Wednesday posted an old video of Geelani on the significance of Urdu on her X account.
“May not concur with Geelani Sahab’s ideology but this old video of him stressing on the importance of Urdu very well makes sense in addition to other reasons. Worth a watch,” Iltija had posted while sharing the video.
BJP leader and the party’s media in charge for Kashmir, Sajid Yousuf Shah, while confirming the registration of the FIR against Iltija, said, “I was just informed that Cyber Police has registered an FIR against PDP leader Iltija Mufti & others over alleged separatist content.”
“About time. This is the first FIR against @IltijaMufti_ long overdue. Let’s see if this is the start of real enforcement or just another headline,” Shah posted on X.
In earlier posts, Shah had criticised Iltija for posting videos of someone he alleged was responsible for bloodshed in the Kashmir Valley while allegedly spreading hate and promoting separatism.
“How many FIRs have been filed against her or Mehbooba Mufti? If the same thing had been tweeted by a common person, they would have been behind bars. But is this how the system works, giving them a free hand so they can gain additional votes? Why is our system so selective,” he questioned.
So far, there has been no reaction from Iltija or the PDP on the registration of the FIR.
Iltija had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Assembly elections from the party’s stronghold of Bijbehara constituency, losing to the NC’s Basheer Veeri.
