Iltija Mufti was appointed media advisor to the People's Democratic Party (PDP) president and her mother Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday. As Iltija Mufti takes a plunge into politics with this move, the decision to appoint the 35-year-old as media advisor to the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister was taken by the party high command, a senior PDP leader said.
Mehbooba Mufti's social media accounts have been managed by Iltija Mufti since 2019, when the mainstream leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including her mother, were detained due to the Centre's repeal of Article 370 and division of the former state into two union territories.
What Iltija said after her appointment?
"It is an honour for me to help in whatever way possible at a time when the people of J&K find themselves thrown into utter chaos, despair and darkness. I hope I can make a difference," Iltija told PTI after her appointment.
A party spokesperson said that Iltija has been a prominent voice and outspoken critic of the government's decision to "illegally abrogate" Article 370 at a time when Jammu and Kashmir's mainstream leaders were imprisoned.
In September last year, Iltija said she did not want to join politics under the prevailing “terrified atmosphere” in Jammu and Kashmir. However, she had not completely ruled it out, saying nobody knows the future.
"In the current atmosphere where politicians have become journalists and the latter stenographers, I do not want to do politics. Politics is about building your relationship with the public. Certain situations come in your life (which guide you)," Iltija Mufti had said at a conclave in Jammu.
'I have no attraction for politics'
She had said that being the granddaughter of the late PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed she had seen politics from close quarters since her birth. "For other people, it might be attractive…I have no attraction for it."
Referring to her statements after the detention of her mother under the Public Safety Act (PSA) following the abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories in August 2019, she had said, "I came forward and started talking because of a vacuum, otherwise I would not have as I have no attraction for both politics and camera."
(With PTI inputs)
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