Don't want to take plunge into politics under prevailing terrified atmosphere in J&K: Iltija Mufti

Asserting that she has no attraction for politics and media gaze, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter Iltija Mufti on Sunday said she did not want to take a plunge into politics under the prevailing terrified atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir.

However, she did not completely rule out joining politics and said situations do come in one's life which give direction as nobody knows the future.

"...In the current atmosphere where the politicians have become journalists and the later stenographers, I do not want to do politics in such an atmosphere. Politics is about building your relationship with the public. Certain situations come in your life (which guide you)," Iltija Mufti said at a conclave here.

She said she had seen politics from close quarters since her birth, being the granddaughter of PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. "For other people, it might be attractive...I have no attraction for it."

Referring to her statements after the detention of her mother under the Public Safety Act (PSA) following the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019, she said, "I came forward and started talking because of a vacuum, otherwise I would not have as I have no glamour for both politics and camera."

Iltija said it was her responsibility at that time and she had fulfilled that. "What is stored for me for the future, I do not know."

On the feedback of her fortnightly interactive session with people since May, a move which many viewed as an exercise before she takes the political plunge, she said the people are disappointed and feel broken in the aftermath of the abrogation of Article 370.

Alleging that Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into an "open air prison", Iltija said, "We do not have the civil rights and liberties."

"They want to disempower the people. They robbed our clothes and their intention is to shift the goal post but they have failed," she said.

Iltija said the government is trying to project tourism as a sign of normalcy but the fact is that the civilian killings have increased 20 percent since 2019.

"Take away my security but secure the minorities...the peace they are talking about is graveyard silence which they have managed by filling up jails and creating fear among the people," she alleged.