Indian Citizen, Not A Terrorist: Iltija Mufti On Passport

SRINAGAR: Iltija Mufti, the daughter of the PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, has been granted a two-year UAE-specific passport. The move comes after her previous passport expired on January 2, 2022, and her application for a new one was denied due to an adverse report by J-K Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID). After receiving the passport, Iltija questioned whether she was being labelled as a terrorist or anti-national. She is determined to fight for her rights and says that she is an Indian law-abiding citizen and not a criminal. The incident has raised concerns about the misuse of power and the denial of fundamental rights to citizens.

In February, she moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which directed the Regional Passport Office (RPO) to look into the merits of the case. The RPO issued the passport to Iltija, who wants to pursue higher studies, that is valid from April 5, 2023, to April 4, 2025, according to a letter by the RPO to the additional solicitor general. Iltija accused the Regional Passport Officer, Kashmir, Davinder Kumar, and the CID of misleading the judiciary during a press conference at the PDP headquarters.

“The passport issued to me is a two-year passport and it is mentioned clearly that it is valid only for the UAE,” Iltija stated and characterized the passport she received as a “conditional passport.” She affirmed that she is an “Indian citizen and a law-abiding citizen” who has not violated any laws. “However, even to issue the two-year passport, the Official Secrets Act has been invoked against me. This Act is usually invoked for espionage,” Iltija claimed.

“Am I a fugitive? Am I Nirav Modi, 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 questioned. “I am not a fugitive or a conman like Kiran Patel who was treated as a VVIP,” Iltija said. Patel was detained in Kashmir last month for allegedly impersonating an official of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The daughter of the PDP leader claimed that she is being treated like a hardened criminal and “like I have taken thousands of crore of rupees as loans from banks and have become a defaulter.” She insisted that she would persist in her legal battle despite “pressure to withdraw her petition.”

Iltija questioned the validity of the passport issued to her, saying, “The Deputy Solicitor General (of India) (Tahir Majid) Shamsi has asked the court to dismiss my petition as a passport has been issued to me. But, what passport is this?” She accused the CID of playing a role in criminalizing passport issuance in Kashmir at the behest of the Centre and claimed that she is being deprived of her fundamental right to travel abroad. She also alleged that she is being punished because of her mother’s political background and not because she has violated any laws. Iltija further stated, “What is my fault? If this is happening to me, you can imagine what is happening to common Kashmiris.”

Iltija claimed that the passport issued to her was a conditional passport, which is not given to even fugitives. She accused the regional passport officer of flouting the Passport Act and violating his duties. She said, “Legally, you have to let me know, you are answerable to me as to why a conditional passport was issued to me. Am I involved in some Hawala scam, or money laundering?”

She also questioned the CID’s submission of an adverse report in a sealed cover and the invocation of the Official Secrets Act. She said, “If you are so confident about your report, then why did you have to invoke the Official Secrets Act? Why do you not want the document to come out in the public domain?”

Iltija alleged that the government wants to make an example out of her family to stop people from raising their voice. She accused the CID officers of bringing “disgrace and disrepute” to the department and harassing the people of Kashmir. She said, “The CID here has only job that is to harass and persecute the Kashmiris.”

When asked if she would continue to pursue the matter in court, Iltija alleged that there is pressure on her lawyer to withdraw the petition. However, she said that she would not withdraw her petition because it was not only her fight, but of others who have been deprived of their rights. She said, “There is tremendous pressure on us to withdraw this petition, but I will continue to fight it in the court, and I have full faith in the honourable judiciary that they will issue this passport.”