SRINAGAR: Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday accused the ruling National Conference (NC) of being responsible for the suspension of her social media accounts. She alleged that the NC was acting in collusion with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to target its critics.
“X has withheld my account. Usually, they send an email, but in my case, there has been no communication. Over the past 24 hours I have been trying to reach the help desk, but the interface is not working. I have not been informed about the reasons,” Iltija told the Times of India.
“Yesterday, people started sending me screenshots saying they were unable to access my account as it had been withheld and that is how I came to know about it,” she added.
Iltija stated that the suspension of her X account had significantly hampered her political activities, as there are few platforms left in Kashmir where people can express themselves. “X and Facebook are among the few platforms available to politicians. My Facebook page was deactivated six days ago and now my X account has been suspended,” she said.
“I feel there is a correlation. When I started speaking about the National Conference (NC) and the process of eliminating Urdu from Jammu and Kashmir, an FIR was filed. The day I began criticising Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his insensitive statement on alcohol, my account disappeared within two days. I think there is some kind of collusion with the BJP. When you target the NC, BJP comes after you,” she alleged.
Last week, Iltija had posted a video of late separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on X, saying, “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.” In the video, Geelani is heard saying that young people are being deprived of the Urdu language. He notes that Urdu carries the region’s religious literature and that a substantial body of religious writing “across India, Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir” has been preserved in it. Geelani died in September 2021.
Earlier, Iltija had taken to the streets to protest the government’s proposed move to remove Urdu as a mandatory language from the Jammu and Kashmir Revenue Service Recruitment Rules, calling it an attack on the Union Territory’s linguistic heritage.
The National Conference has rejected the accusations, alleging that the PDP voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the October 2023 Rajya Sabha polls and, in order to deflate the issue, it is raising Urdu and other matters. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has maintained that there is no proposal with the government to remove Urdu.
