Srinagar, Apr 7: Iltija Mufti, daughter of former J&K chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti on Friday said that she won’t withdraw the petition from court and “will fight for her passport.”
She said this during a press conference here,a day after she got a two year valid travel document to pursue education in the UAE.
“My passport had expired and I had reapplied for a fresh one in June last year. Yesterday, I had a court date for the petition,” Iltija told reporters here.
“The passport issued to me is a two-year passport and it is mentioned clearly that it is valid for the UAE only. I will not withdraw my petition because this is not my fight only but of others who have been deprived of such rights,” she said. “There is tremendous pressure on us to withdraw this petition, but I will continue to fight it in the court and I have full faith in the honourable judiciary that they will issue this passport,” she said.
“I am an Indian citizen, a law abiding citizen, I have not broken any law till today, but, even to issue a two-year passport, the Official Secrets Act has been invoked against me. This Act is usually invoked for espionage,” she said.
“The CID told the court that they were not stopping my passport, and were not violating any of my fundamental rights. The right to travel abroad is a fundamental right and I am being deprived of that right. This is happening to me because I am a daughter of a former CM. I am not entitled to a passport because Mehbooba Mufti is my mother, I am entitled to a passport because I am a law abiding citizen.”
“Is there any FIR or any charges against me that I am being deprived of this right? What is my fault?,” she asked. “If this is happening to me, you can imagine what is happening to common Kashmiris.”
