Not ready for politics: Iltija Mufti

Iltija Mufti, daughter of detained former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, on Tuesday said she is not yet ready to join politics. Speaking at the Indian Women's Press Corps here, Iltija said she doesn't think she will be a good politician. She said her mother wants to keep a check on what she speaks.

"I am not ready for politics," she said. "I don't think I will be a good politician."Hitting out at the Centre for banning social media in Kashmir, she said it is "absurd" that Kashmiris are not allowed to access social media.

The J&K government has banned all social media sites in Kashmir to "curb their misuse for propagating rumours and false information". On Monday, the J&K police said it has registered an FIR against social media users who defied government orders and misused social media platforms.

"I will go to Kashmir and use VPN, let them slap an FIR on me," she asserted. She said former Chief Ministers, her mother and Omar Abdullah, acted as a buffer in Kashmir which the government has removed by abrogating Article 370.

She dared Home Minister Amit Shah to go to Kashmir. "People are angry, if Home Minister Amit Shah walks on the streets in Kashmir, I will salute him," Iltija said.

She said Kashmiris should sue the Modi government. She said her faith in the Indian judicial system has been shaken and she said she could even approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

"I think the government should be sued, when British left India, they bled us dry. We should demand compensation. We have lost Rs 18,000 crore," she said. "Don't mind approaching the international court. If we can't rely on Indian courts where can we go?"

Iltija questioned the BJP and said if the party feels her mother is anti-national why did they enter into an alliance with her party in 2014. "Was the BJP sleeping?" she asked. "Was it in coma?" She said the BJP had struck an alliance with the PDP and said that it will not touch Article 370.

She said people in Jammu are also unhappy with the abrogation of Article 370 and claimed that if elections are held in Jammu right now the BJP would be wiped out. She said that her loyalty is with the country and not with the BJP.

"If speaking against the BJP makes me anti-national, I don't mind being called one," she said. Iltija asked that "if Kashmir has gravitated towards Pakistan in the past seven months, then who is to be blamed?"