Category: news

Junaid Azim Mattu said in a Kashmir today fellow mainstream leaders
have "surrendered and sold their tongues to the BJP-led Government and
chosen to sound shamefully diplomatic over the assassination of Khamenei
and the brutal war on Iran and Palestine".

The J&K Police on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) filed First Information Reports
(FIRs) against National Conference leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Aga
Syed Ruhullah and former Srinagar mayor Junaid Azim Mattu for
allegedly "creating fear, disturbing public order, and inciting unlawful
activities".

"The police acted 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 and has registered cases against Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and
Junaid Azim Mattu in connection with the matter," a police spokesperson
said.

The police claimed that the content in question, prima facie, "reflected
dissemination of distorted narratives and unverified information capable of
causing public unrest and societal disharmony".

The police said two FIRs were registered under Sections 197(1)(d) and
353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at Cyber Police Station,
Srinagar. "Investigation into both cases has been initiated and is
underway. Further legal action shall follow as warranted under law," the
police said.

The FIRs came as Kashmir was engulfed in three days of street protests by
locals over the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei in an
attack on February 28 in Iran. Both Mr. Ruhullah and Mr. Mattu had shared
posts on social media handles pertaining to these protests.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Ruhullah said his Facebook account was suspended
and his security detail thinned. "Some fools in J&K Police and
administration think that by withdrawing or downgrading my security detail
and suspending my Facebook account will stop me from calling out their
atrocities. It is laughable," MP Ruhullah said.

He said his father was "martyred standing for his people and that's what
fascinates me". "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,"
MP Ruhullah said.

Mr. Mattu, in a post on X, said his security was "effectively withdrawn
with immediate effect". "A measure aimed to silence me," Mr. Mattu said.

He claimed the move was in response to his 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 U.S. and Israel".

He said in a Kashmir today fellow mainstream leaders have "surrendered and
sold their tongues to the BJP-led Government and chosen to sound shamefully
diplomatic over the assassination of Khamenei and the brutal war on Iran
and Palestine".

"I will continue to commit the crime of having a conscience. 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," the
former Srinagar mayor said.