J&K elections | Mehbooba's daughter Iltija Mufti all set to make poll debut
Iltija first became famous when Parliament voted to abolish Article 370, which granted J&K special status and ‘autonomy’.
Not quite unexpectedly, ‘Mummy’s girl’ Iltija Mufti is poised to take her big leap in her fledgling political career in the fraught political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir.
For Iltija, the daughter of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, is all set to contest from the Bijbehara constituency in Anantnag in the upcoming J&K Assembly polls. The long-awaited assembly polls are scheduled to be held on September 18.
The younger daughter of Mehbooba Mufti, Iltija (37), often described as the ‘new face' of Kashmir, started actively participating in her mother’s political activities just five years ago. According to political observers, in the past few years there have been enough indications that this political science graduate will step into the shoes of her mother and grandfather, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the former J&K CM who founded the PDP.
Foray into politics
Iltija first shot into the limelight when Parliament voted to abrogate Article 370, which granted special status and ‘autonomy’ to J&K.
In August 2019, J&K’s statehood was revoked and it became a Union territory under the rule of the BJP central government. Her mother Mehbooba Mufti and other Kashmir leaders were quickly placed under detention and cut off from public life. And, this was the time Iltija emerged holding a press meet unapologetically donning the mantle of “Mummy’s Girl”.
She criticised her mother’s detention and took over her mother’s Twitter account, as well as that of the PDP and managed to “fool” the system in the Internet-blocked Valley and kept her broadband working to keep the conversations going. She wanted to give Kashmiris hope and embolden their voice. And spoke out fearlessly against the "increased paramilitary presence", "more barricades" and how people’s voices were stifled. "People have been slapped with UAPA even if they crack a joke,” she mocked the BJP-led central government.
In the words of PDP, “Iltija emerged as a leading voice and a vociferous critic of GoI’s decision to illegally abrogate Article 370 at a time when J&K’s mainstream leaders were out behind bars.”
Concerned daughter
Iltija’s concern for her mother’s health led her to write a letter to the J&K Police in November, urging the deputy commissioner to move Mehbooba to an accommodation with heating facilities. Equally fearlessly, she dashed off a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah in mid-August asking him why she was being punished for speaking on behalf of Kashmiris whose voices have been smothered and not allowed to leave her Srinagar home.
“Is it a crime to articulate the pain, torment and indignity we’ve been subjected to? Does it warrant a detention to describe our plight?” she wrote. Iltija also asked the minister why the “world’s largest democracy” won’t allow a citizen to “speak up in the face of unimaginable repression?"
Days after the letter reached its destination, Iltija was allowed to fly out of Srinagar. She complained on a CNN show with Christiane Amanpour and on BBC Hard Talk that her access to her mother is restricted.
After Mehbooba’s release, Iltija then stuck by her mother’s side during her media interactions and meetings. And, finally, she got her reward for last year in August, she was christened as Mufti’s media advisor marking her formal entry into politics.
Iltija is fiercely “protective” of her mother and claims to have differences in opinion with her. “I will always guard her, stand by her, but we also argue a lot,” she said in one interview.
In a June post on Instagram, she wrote: "Elections will come & go. Some we will win some we will lose. But I pray to Allah that we share these moments together & never apart from each other in this journey we have embarked upon. Because a thousand victories will be meaningless without you around. Id much rather face a defeat knowing you are with me."
Conversations with Iltija
In June 2022 she started a fortnightly video conversation series on X called “Aapki baat Iltija ke saath (Conversations with Iltija)” to “talk about the issues and decisions” affecting the people of J&K. In it she discusses wide ranging issues dealing with Kashmir and gets to connect with Kashmiris.
Outspoken
Acutely aware of the fact that some Kashmiris “blame” PDP for collaborating with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in J&K in March 2016, she openly admits that her grandfather made a mistake by allying with the BJP.
Mehbooba became chief minister of the erstwhile state in April 2016, following the death of her father. The coalition between PDP and BJP ended in June 2018, after which the state was placed under governor’s rule.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the “political fiefdom” of the Abdullah and Mufti dynasties, which has “brought only misery to the people of J&K” in the past, she said that she was not ashamed of being her mother's daughter.
"I am proud of being her daughter. BJP cannot or will not decide if I should receive love and respect from the people of Kashmir or not. It isn’t my lineage but my aptitude which will decide my fate in politics," she said in another interview.
She credits her articulate nature to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, her maternal grandfather and founder of PDP. According to her, he encouraged her to read, write, and travel. She also revealed that her interest in politics was ignited when, as a child, she used to eavesdrop on conversations between her mother and her grandfather, former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Education qualifications
Iltija graduated from Delhi University in political science and completed her master’s degree in international relations from Warwick University in the United Kingdom. She was mostly raised by her mother after the latter’s estrangement from her husband, Javed Iqbal Shah, a businessman and former National Conference leader.
In between campaigning for her mother and PDP's Waheed Ur Rehman in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Iltija Mufti is also penning her mother's biography. An avid reader, her favourite books are Rohinting Mistry's A Fine Balance and Amitav Ghosh’s Glass Palace.