We should approach ICJ: Iltija

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 18

In hugely controversial remarks on Tuesday, Iltija Mufti, the daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, said the government should be taken to the International Court of Justice(ICJ) for continuing the clampdown in the newly-formed UT.

Speaking to reporters at Indian Women’s Press Corps here, Iltija Mufti said she had lost trust in the courts here and was feeling “let down”.

“My faith is shaken. I feel let down by courts. Our internet is down for seven months,” she said, close on the heels of Mehbooba Mufti’s detention being extended under the Public Safety Act in JK.

Asked if she would, like Sara Pilot, move the Supreme Court for the release of her mother from detention, Iltija said she had no option but to approach the SC but was yet to discuss the matter with lawyers.

“Although my trust in courts is shaken I do not have an option. I will have to approach the SC and I will if I have to. I got hold of the dossier on my mother only last week and will challenge it but I do not want to talk about my legal strategy here,” she said.

She also ruled out an immediate political plunge noting that she would not make a good politician.

“I have no plans to join politics as of now but I cannot say about the future...I tend to speak my mind which is not good in politics. My mother also keeps telling me to check my instincts,” said Iltija.

She alleged that the clampdown in JK had been unprecedented.

“I speak as a Kashmiri, not a politician’s daughter alone,” said Iltija Mufti adding that she was allowed to meet her mother as and when she wanted but “hated” visiting Mehbooba in jail.

Asked if she had any idea when the political detentions of the three former CMs would end, Iltija said, “I get a sense that detentions will last for a while. The Government would have released detainees before the arrival of US President Donald Trump if they had to.”

To a specific query on whether she was in favour of moving ICJ since she said she had no faith in courts here, Iltija Mufti answered in the affirmative.

“I think the Indian government should be sued and we should demand reparations. When the British left India in 1947, they took away a lot of our treasures and they just left us dry. I think what they have done to Kashmiris they should be taken to courts and we should demand compensation and we should demand reparation because our economy until now has lost Rs 18,000 crore and nobody is even talking about it. It is all because of their decisions to cut internet and to block the places of meeting, to cut JK off from the rest of the country. So I think that yes we should absolutely approach the international court.”

Asked to clarify if she meant petitioning ICJ, Iltija added, “I have been asked a hypothetical question and I am saying yes why not. If this (clampdown) goes on for a long time what would we do? Your government is supposed to protect you. To who should we go? Who should we talk to? So many delegations have approached the government. We have told them so many times. What do they want us to do? Internet is a basic fundamental right? That too they are not giving us. So where should we go?”

On how she felt about the travails of Kashmiri Pandits who were yet to return home after the exodus, Iltija Mufti said “what happened should have never ever happened but we need to reconcile and stop weaponizing pain.”

Taking another question on whether her mother’s party would take part in the JK panchayat polls as and when these are held, Iltija said, “That is for the party leadership to decide..these would anyway be sham elections since top political leaders are jailed. Also, I do not believe you can create political leaderships in incubators.”

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