Mehbooba Mufti: Loyalty Pledges Evoke Memories of 1990s Militant Coercion

Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti drew parallels on Tuesday between the recent pledges of “loyalty to India” made by the kin of some senior separatist leaders and the coercion tactics employed by militants during the 1990s when militants would intimidate political workers into dissociating from mainstream ideologies.

Ruwa Shah, whose father and Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Ahmad Shah passed away last year while in custody on charges of terror funding, and Sama Shabir, the daughter of jailed separatist leader Shabir Shah, recently published notices in newspapers. They disassociated themselves from “separatist ideology” and pledged their loyalty to “the sovereignty of the Union of India”.

Mehbooba shared images of notices published in local newspapers on the micro-blogging site X, and said, “Kashmir witnessed a time when gun-toting militants threatened & forced political workers to disassociate themselves from the mainstream or face dire consequences. Today that pattern is being repeated & what makes it even more disturbing is that the role is being played by the state itself; they are harassing families of separatists”.

While deeming such events unacceptable, the President of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) said, “Not even sparing their daughters to peddle propaganda by making them disown their families. Even after a brutal crackdown and suppression, GOI continues to feel paranoid. Shameless is an understatement for such cowardly actions,”.

Ruwa Shah, a former journalist critical of Indian state policies, reportedly met with DG JKP, R S Swain last month, alleging her passport was impounded.

The meeting at the Police chief’s public Darbar appears to provide context to the nearly simultaneous “public notices” by Ruwa and Sama Shabir last week.

Swain, known for his tough stance against the terror ecosystem, as per the sources, DGP Swain gave Ruwa a patient hearing and marked her application for action.

Moreover, Ruwa’s brother, Anees-ul-Islam, appointed during the 2016 unrest, was terminated from government service in 2021 for being a “threat to the state”.

Islam had been employed as a research officer at the government-managed Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar.

However, Sama Shabir’s family confirmed her presence in the United Kingdom (UK).

Shabir Shah, the founder of the Democratic Freedom Party, has been incarcerated since 2017. Initially apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in July 2017, he was detained in Tihar Jail. Subsequently, in 2019, the National Investigation Agency assumed custody of Shah in connection with an alleged terror funding case, along with separatist leaders Masarat Alam and Syeda Asiya Andrabi.

In 2023, the government banned the Democratic Freedom Party as an unlawful association under the UAPA.

In 2019, Sama Shabir was summoned by the ED in connection with the case. However, she did not appear at that time as she was studying law in the UK.