Iltija Mufti’s X account withheld, says ‘attempt to silence her’ With around 50,000 followers on these platforms, Ms. Mufti, daughter of former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, emerged as a bold voice on social media over rights issues and a critical voice against the Omar Abdullah government. “There is a pattern to silence bold voices in Kashmir. I am just the latest in the number of accounts of journalists and thinkers in the region. It’s sad my account was withheld hours after I addressed a press conference over Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s unacceptable remarks on the liquor ban. There seems to be a link between the two events,” said Ms. Mufti. Ms. Mufti contested her first Assembly elections in 2024 but lost to an NC candidate. She said banning the social media accounts has impacted her ability “to raise issues of public importance and reach out to people over misgovernance”. “It’s the job of politicians to raise public awareness on an issue. Social media is a power tool in a democracy to ensure people’s concerns are highlighted and a meaningful conversation takes place. Banning accounts of politicians is an attack on the democratic ecosystem,” she added. Ms. Mufti faced a controversy on April 29 when she posted a video of Mr. Geelani on X. “May not concur with Geelani Sahab’s ideology but this old video of him stressing the importance of Urdu very well makes sense in addition to other reasons. Worth a watch,” she said. The video, which went viral with around 1,57,000 views and over 168 reposts on X, was followed by a police FIR against unidentified individuals. “I have not been mentioned in any FIR. I am ready to clear my position if asked to do so,” said Ms. Mufti. According to the police, it acted upon credible inputs regarding circulation and dissemination of content (videos) across digital and social media platforms, promoting separatist ideology and propagating false information, with an intent to incite unlawful activities prejudicial to the peace, sovereignty and integrity of India. Published