The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday appealed to union Home Minister Amit Shah to intervene, alleging that the top leadership of the People’s Conference (PC) was intimidating and threatening its leaders by invoking the names of central investigative agencies.
Addressing a press conference here, PDP leaders Iltija Mufti, Waheed Para, and former MLC Yasir Rishi alleged that the names of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were being used to threaten and browbeat political opponents.
The People’s Conference (PC) is headed by MLA Sajad Lone.
Iltija alleged that the PC leadership was “spreading terror” in Kashmir’s political space and claimed that the names of central agencies and the Ministry of Home Affairs were being invoked to intimidate PDP leaders. She appealed to Shah to clarify whether such actions were taking place with the knowledge of the Centre and, if not, to rein in those allegedly misusing the names of the agencies.
“Fight us with the ballot, not with the ED, NIA or CBI,” Iltija said, asserting that political parties should compete through dialogue and elections rather than intimidation.
She alleged that several PDP leaders had faced pressure and harassment and said investigative agencies were not the “private property” of any political party or its leadership.
Rishi, meanwhile, alleged that he had recently been informed about a purported meeting involving officials of central agencies where, he claimed, discussions were held about targeting him. He said he had no links with militancy or separatism and challenged anyone to establish that he had been involved in wrongdoing.
Rishi also alleged that he had faced harassment and pressure since 2019 and demanded that the agencies directly question or prosecute anyone making false allegations against him.
MLA Para said the alleged political pressure was part of a broader attempt to divert public attention from what he described as the core issues confronting Jammu and Kashmir.
He said political discourse should focus on issues including Article 370, political prisoners, the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, termination of employees, and other matters affecting people in the region.
“No two Kashmiris have any reason to fight each other. The real question is: why is the public discourse in J&K being deliberately polluted and divided” he remarked.
Para also alleged that a large number of PDP leaders, including MLAs, MLCs, and MPs, had been pressured to leave the party after 2019, claiming that the party’s political space had been systematically weakened.
He said political parties should not use agencies, arrests, property attachments, or other forms of pressure to settle political differences.
“ If we cannot give anything to Kashmir, at least we should not cause harm,” Para said, urging the media and political actors to maintain a “clean, issue-centric” discourse.
