Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's daughter Iltija Javed wrote an open letter to Union Home Minister and BJP President Amit Shah on Independence Day, August 15, regarding her detention in the state following the abrogation of Article 370.
Mufti's daughter claimed that she was detained by the security forces because of her interviews to the media and was threatened with dire consequences if she continues to do so. Her letter stated: "Today while the rest of the country celebrates India's Independence Day, Kashmiris have been caged like animals and deprived of basic human rights."
Iltija Javed, who is under house arrest at her Srinagar residence, released a second audio clip along with the letter demanding clarity over the internment. She said that visitors were not allowed to meet her and she found that odd as she was not affiliated to any political party and has always been a law-abiding citizen. She also raised concern over her mother and other political leaders who have been kept in confinement since August 5.
Iltija said that she fails to understand why she is being punished for speaking on behalf of the Kashmiris, whose voices have been smothered. "Is it a crime to articulate the pain, torment and indignity we've been subjected to?" she asked.
"We Kashmiris are reeling in despair since the unilateral abrogation of Article 370 on 5th August 2019...It's now been over ten long agonising days since this crippling curfew was imposed. The Valley is gripped with fear because all forms of communication have been snapped by debilitating an entire population," she said.
In the audio message, she said that she was being treated like a criminal for telling the inconvenient truth and is under constant surveillance. She said that it is suffocating and humiliating to be treated in this manner for speaking out the truth. "I fear for my life along with those Kashmiris who have spoken up," she said.
In her first audio message released last week, Iltija alleged that her mother and People's Democratic Party (PDP) supremo is imprisoned without access to her lawyers or party workers.
