People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti has claimed that she and her mother, Mehbooba Mufti, have been placed under house arrest as the latter was going to visit Sopore in Jammu Kashmir’s Baramulla district, where a civilian truck driver was killed in army firing earlier this week.
Waseem Majeed Mir was shot dead in army firing after he as per army refused to stop at a checkpoint in Baramulla district on Wednesday night.
In a tweet on Saturday, Iltija Mufti said, “My mother & I both have been placed under house arrest. Our gates have been locked up because she was meant to visit Sopore where Waseem Mir was shot dead by the army.
“I intended to visit Kathua today to meet Makhan Din’s family & am not being allowed to even move out. Nothing has changed in Kashmir even after elections. Now even comforting the families of victims is being criminalised,” she added.
Makhan Din (26), a resident of Batodi village in Kathua accused of being involved in militancy, allegedly died of suicide on Wednesday night due to police “harassment”.
According to police, Makhan Din, a nephew of exfiltrated Pakistan terrorist Swar Din alias Swaru Gujjar, was associated with the group responsible for the July 2024 Badnotta army convoy attack that killed four army jawans.
Iltija Mufti’s tweet comes as several politicians in Jammu Kashmir have condemned the deaths of the two men.
On Friday, Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “The unfortunate saga of extra judicial killings and rights violations of people of J&K continues as the perpetrators are never brought to the book. This cycle will never cease until accountability is established and justice delivered.”
Apni Party leader Altaf Bukhari has called for a probe into the death of the truck driver “to determine the exact circumstances under which this unfortunate event occurred”.
Jammu Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra also condemned the killing as “very fortunate and a matter of grave concern.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah announced that his government will order its own inquiries into the two deaths and also took up the matter with the Centre.
“I have seen the reports of excessive use of force & harassment of Makhan Din in police custody in Billawar leading to his suicide and the death of Waseem Ahmed Malla, shot by the army under circumstances that are not entirely clear. Both these incidents are highly unfortunate and should not have happened,” he tweeted.
“J-K will never be completely normalised and free of terror without the cooperation of & partnership with the local population. Incidents like these risk alienating the very people who we need to carry with us on the road to complete normalcy,” he said. (KDC)