Terming the Public Safety Act (PSA) dossier against former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti as “slander”, her daughter Iltija Mufti said that the BJP “tasted power for a second time in Kashmir” — after the death of Mehbooba’s father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed — only because her mother was “daddy’s girl”, one of the terms used in the dossier against the PDP chief.

Iltija said the police dossier and the “grounds of detention” under the stringent PSA should be objective, with solid arguments. Even if the administration had to accuse her mother of “something serious”, they should have been at least dignified, she said.

“As a daughter, it is very painful for me to see such slander against my mother. It is appalling,” Iltija told The Indian Express. “They accuse my mother of being a ‘daddy’s girl’ — they used it to slander her — but had she not been a ‘daddy’s girl’ BJP would not have come to power again after Mufti-sahib’s death. My mother was unabashedly and unapologetically a ‘daddy’s girl’, and that is why BJP tasted power for the second time. We all know she honoured Mufti-sahib’s commitment. Otherwise, she was dithering for a good three months — she didn’t want to part of this (PDP-BJP) alliance”.

Iltija said the BJP’s “vitriol and communal hatred” shows up in the dossier. “A legal document should have more solid grounds, but all these charges are baseless. It is also so demeaning; imagine words such as hot-headed, insidious, machinations, scheming, divisive personality…”

Iltija also pointed out that the police have compared Mufti with Kota Rani, the last woman Hindu ruler of Kashmir from the 14th century. The PSA dossier against Mufti states: “The subject is referred for her dangerous and insidious machinations and usurping profile and nature by the masses as “Daddy’s girl” and “Kota Rani’”, based on profile of a medieval queen of Kashmir, who rose to power by virtue of undertaking intrigues ranging from poisoning of her opponents…”

Iltija pointed out that when Mufti was the Chief Minister in the PDP-BJP coalition government she was hailed as “Jhansi ki Rani” and called “nari shakti (woman power)”, but today “she is whatever historical figure you have invoked”.

She also said, “It (police dossier) brings up her marital status. Is it a crime if a woman is married and divorced? What has a woman’s marital status got to do with PSA? Is there no dignity left any longer?”

Iltija also said if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visits to his mother are signs of obedience, why is it a problem if her mother was her father’s obedient daughter.

On “material evidence” presented by the district magistrate in the ‘grounds of detention’, Iltija said, “Are we going to use tweets as statements to slap PSA on someone? There are tweets on highway ban. My mother is a politician. Tomorrow if the streets of Delhi are in bad shape and a politician there issues statements that people face trouble because of it (bad road), would you put them in jail? There is one tweet on triple talaq. My mother voiced concern. The government is purposely blurring the line between government policy and Indianness. So today they say your (PDP’s) green flag reflects radicalisation. The Indian flag has green in it; are you saying even the Indian flag is anti-national? What is this color-coding and dog-whistling?”