Khamenei protests: J-K MP, ex-mayor booked for circulating ‘misleading’ content

The Jammu and Kashmir police have registered cases against Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu in connection with the alleged circulation of “misleading” online content after protests over the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei by the US-Israel joint forces rocked the Valley.

Protests erupted in Kashmir on Sunday (March 1), a day after Khamenei’s assassination. The last time protests of a similar magnitude were seen in Kashmir was August 5, 2019, the day the Centre removed Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and subsequently bifurcated the state into two Union Territories.

How things escalated in Srinagar

The protests over Khamenei remained largely peaceful on the first day. Mourners assembled at the historic Ghanta Ghar (in city centre Lal Chowk), where they raised anti-US and anti-Israel slogans. Since the month of Ramzan is on, the mourners held their afternoon prayers at the spot while hailing Khamenei.

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On Monday (March 2), Kashmir also witnessed a rare post-2019 shutdown, following a call by Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, which former chief minister and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti also backed.

But it was after the authorities imposed restrictions on Monday fearing a threat to law and order that a stone-pelting incident was reported from one place along the Srinagar-Baramulla highway, in which more than a dozen people, including policemen, were reportedly injured. Ghanta Ghar has been sealed off by the police for the past three days.

‘Credible inputs’ against MP, ex-mayor

In a statement, the police said they acted against Ruhullah and Mattu on credible inputs regarding the circulation of “false, fabricated and misleading” content across digital and social media platforms with the intent to create fear, disturb public order, and incite unlawful activities.

Mehdi is a senior National Conference leader who holds substantial influence as a religious cleric over the Valley's Muslims, especially the Shia sect, which constitutes around 1.5 million people in the Union Territory. Mattu is a former Srinagar mayor and a People’s Conference leader.

Both politicians condemned the police action on protestors on March 2. Mehdi shared a video of a scuffle between women protestors and police officials, while Mattu posted, “The sentiments of a people in mourning and pain must be respected at all costs. There is absolutely no moral justification to use force against peaceful protestors.”

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In its statement, the police said the content in question, prima facie, reflects the dissemination of distorted narratives and unverified information capable of causing public unrest and societal disharmony. It added that such deliberate attempts to spread misinformation pose a serious threat to peace, security, and overall stability. Accordingly, the statement said FIR No. 02/2026 and FIR No. 03/2026 have been registered under Sections 197(1)(d) and 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Cyber Police Station, Srinagar.

These foolish acts will not stop me: Ruhullah

Both Ruhullah and Mattu issued strong statements saying they are citizens of India and that this action will not deter them from speaking up for humanity, while also claiming their security has been downgraded or withdrawn.

In his statement, Ruhullah said, “Some fools in J&K Police and administration think that by withdrawing/downgrading my security detail and suspending my Facebook account will stop me from calling out their atrocities. It is laughable! Neither am I fascinated by these petty things nor scared by their absence around me. My father was martyred standing for his people. That’s what fascinates me. That’s my course.”

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He added, “I am a citizen of this country and I will exercise my rights to stand up against your atrocities, violation of laws, freedom and democracy given to us by the constitution, to the last drop of my blood. Take whatever little you have left there. These foolish acts will not stop me.”

Will continue to commit crime of having a conscience: Mattu

Mattu said, “For my statements on Iran and Ayatullah Syed Ali Khamenei’s martyrdom, and for speaking against the BJP-led government’s moral abdication and deafening silence on the issue of the illegitimate barbaric onslaught on Iran by US and Israel, my security has just been effectively withdrawn with immediate effect. A measure aimed to silence me.”

He also said it turns out that as a mainstream Kashmiri politician, “you have to be shamefully neutral and silent in the face of Israel massacring young school girls and assassinating a Head of State OR face consequences in New India”.

“Or you have to issue statements pontificating to the mourners while praising the administration and the police. Sorry, I can’t do either of these things,” Mattu added.

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He also said, “In a Kashmir today where fellow mainstream leaders have surrendered and sold their tongues to the BJP-led government and chosen to sound shamefully diplomatic over the assassination of Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei and the brutal war on Iran and Palestine, I will continue to commit the crime of having a conscience.”

We are not Pakistan: Mattu

“I, with all humility at my command, accept this decision. I understand the compulsion of the officers to do this. Such measures aimed to suppress my voice, however, won’t stop me from speaking up for humanity, justice and to seek answers about my country’s and its leadership’s unprecedented moral abdication when it comes to Iran,” Mattu said.

He added, “This comes at a time when multiple media accounts in Kashmir have been barred on social media with mounting pressure to not cover the mass mourning in Kashmir over the martyrdom of Khamenei. I demand such restrictions on the media be lifted immediately. We live in India, not Israel, and our institutions should uphold the law and freedom of speech.

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“BJP’s views and leanings don’t override the Constitution of India, even if they have negated India’s non-alignment foreign policy for now. Our institutions should not suppress the sentiments and freedom of speech of our own citizens to help please and pander to foreign powers.”

“We are not Pakistan,” Mattu added.