Srinagar, July 30: The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday accused the top leadership of the People’s Conference (PC) of intimidating political opponents by allegedly invoking the names of central investigative agencies, and appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene if such actions were being carried out without official sanction.
Addressing a press conference, PDP leader Iltija Mufti alleged that the People’s Conference leadership had been creating “an atmosphere of fear” since 2019.
“I want to ask Home Minister Amit Shah whether he knows that his name and the name of the Ministry of Home Affairs are being used to threaten PDP leaders,” she said, alleging that PC leaders claim to enjoy the backing of agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
“They say, ‘ED is in our pocket, Amit Shah is in our pocket, NIA is with us,'” Mufti alleged, urging the Home Minister to clarify whether such claims had any basis. “If this is not happening under your directions, then please rein in such people.”
Mufti alleged that PDP workers, journalists and businessmen had been subjected to intimidation and pressure.
“If you want to fight us, fight us through dialogue and the ballot. Don’t fight us through the ED or the NIA,” she said. “The investigative agencies are not the private property or assets of any political party.”
She also accused the People’s Conference of attempting to divert attention from what she described as Jammu and Kashmir’s “core issues” such as Article 370, political prisoners and governance.
“They are dragging politics into the gutter. Kashmir deserves clean, issue-centric politics,” she said.
PDP legislator Waheed Ur Rehman Parra echoed the allegations, claiming that political discourse in Jammu and Kashmir was being deliberately diverted away from issues such as Article 370, detained political leaders and the ban on Jama’at-e-Islami.
“After August 5, 2019, no two Kashmiris have any reason to fight each other,” Parra said. “The discourse should be clean and centred on the core issues of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Parra, who referred to his own detention by the NIA, said, “I was neither a separatist nor a militant. I did nothing that harmed India’s interests.”
He further alleged that PDP bore the brunt of a political crackdown after the abrogation of Article 370.
“Forty PDP leaders were identified and removed. The PDP did not fall from 35 seats to three because people rejected us. We didn’t even have candidates in many places after our leaders were taken away,” he claimed.
Parra also alleged that whenever PDP raised issues such as employee dismissals under Article 311, political prisoners or property attachments, attempts were made to shift public attention through political attacks.
Former MLC Yasir Reshi recounted what he described as years of pressure and intimidation after entering politics. He said his offices were raided and he was repeatedly targeted despite having no criminal or militant background.
“I have never been a militant or a separatist. Show me one case where I grabbed someone’s land or defaulted on a bank loan,” Reshi said.
Referring to an alleged phone call by a People’s Conference functionary, Reshi claimed he was informed that officials from the NIA, ED, Intelligence Bureau and Anti-Corruption Bureau were meeting to discuss action against him.
“If the NIA has any questions for me, let them ask me directly. Why should they go to Sajjad Lone’s house?” he said.
Reshi urged investigative agencies to take action if such claims were false.
“If this boy lied, action should be taken against him. If someone made him lie, action should also be taken against them,” he said.
The three PDP leaders repeatedly maintained that political competition should be conducted democratically rather than through alleged intimidation.
“If you want to fight us,” Mufti said, “fight us with the ballot.”
