The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday said that National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and former Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu have been booked for sharing allegedly misleading content on social media.
It was not clear what content the police were referring to. However, Mehdi and Mattu have been condemning the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran that began on Saturday.
The conflict in West Asia began when Israel and the US attacked Iran. Khamenei was killed on Sunday in the joint military operation carried out by the two countries. Tehran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region, and targeting major cities in other Gulf countries.
On Tuesday, Mehdi claimed that the case against him was filed because of his statements on the situation in West Asia. The two of them had earlier said that their security had also been downgraded.
On the other hand, the police said that the first information reports against the two were filed after “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”.
The content in question reflected “dissemination of distorted narratives and unverified information” capable of causing public unrest and societal disharmony, the police added.
“Such deliberate attempts to spread misinformation pose a serious threat to peace, security and overall stability,” read the police statement.
The FIRs were registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections pertaining to the dissemination of false information that endangers sovereignty, unity, or security, as well as statements that constitute public mischief.
In a social media post on Tuesday, Mehdi said that the “same administration that could not find the courage to condemn a sovereign nation’s leader being martyred now finds the courage to book the one man who did”.
The Srinagar MP added that the residents of his constituency did not elect a legislator to “recite government-approved” condolences. “They elected him to speak truth,” Mehdi said. “That mandate does not expire with an FIR.”
In another post, the National Conference leader claimed that his security detail had been downgraded and his Facebook account withdrawn.
“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,” Mehdi said. “It is laughable! Neither am I fascinated by these petty things nor scared by their absence around me.”
The Srinagar MP added that as a citizen of this country, he will exercise his rights “to stand up against your atrocities, violation of laws, freedom and democracy given to us by the Constitution”.
Mattu on Tuesday claimed that his security had been withdrawn with immediate effect for his statements on Iran and Khamenei’s killing, and for speaking against the Union government’s “moral abdication and deafening silence” on the attacks on Iran.
He added that this was a measure aimed at silencing him.
“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,” he said.
Mattu added that “our institutions should not suppress the sentiments and freedom of speech of our own citizens to help please and pander to foreign powers”.
Later in the day, Mattu also claimed that a police contingent had arrived at his home to remove the guard.
“To think that I will stop speaking up against the gruesome injustice and cruelty perpetuated against Iran and our own government’s moral abdication in the face of these unjust, barbaric crimes against humanity by Israel and the US – not going to happen,” he said. “Till my last breath.”
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti described the FIRs against Mehdi and Mattu as “egregiously unwarranted and unjust” and demanded that it is withdrawn immediately.
“Just because GOI [the Government of India] and NC government in Jammu & Kashmir have chosen to remain silent on the blatant aggression by US and Israel against Iran and the martyrdom of its Supreme Leader doesn’t mean that those who speak out are offenders to be booked under the law,” she said in a social media post.
The FIRs came after the police stated earlier on Tuesday that some news and media outlets, and persons were booked in Jammu and Kashmir for sharing allegedly misleading information about the protests against the killing of Khamenei.
Protests had erupted in several Indian states after Khamenei’s killing. The supreme leader, who had controlled all branches of the government and the armed forces in Iran since 1989, was considered an important figure by Shia Muslims globally.
At least 14 persons, including six security personnel, were injured during the protests in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, the Hindustan Times reported.
Amid the demonstrations, the authorities in the Union Territory had curtailed mobile internet speed.
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