Mehbooba Says Goodbye To Fairview, Mufti Home For Two Decades, Subsidiary Jail And Once 'Papa 2'

After being served notice to vacate her Fairview residence at the Gupkar Road, former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today shifted from the bungalow that had remained the address of Muftis for almost two decades.

Overlooking Dal Lake the bungalow was the official residence of her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed when he became Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and since then it remained with Muftis.

Last month government issued notice to Mehbooba to vacate her Fairview residence which was her official government accommodation in Srinagar. 

Once an interrogation centre

The Fairview residence was once called Papa II, as was one of the most infamous interrogation centers of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Till 1989, the building was used as an official guest house and was known as Fairview Guest House. Later, the building was taken over by the Border Security Forces. The security forces named it Papa-2 in an attempt to keep the compound’s new purpose nominally confidential. It continued to function as an interrogation center till 1996.  That year, Ashok Jaitley, the then Chief Secretary of the State moved in and used it as his residence after its renovation.

Official Residence 

In 2003 it was renovated and served as the residence of the then Finance Minister of the PDP government Muzaffer Hussain Baig. Since 2005 it served as the residence of Mufti Muhammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba Mufti.

Mehbooba’s sub-jail

From April 2020 to October 2020, the government turned the Fairview residence into a subsidiary jail and Mehbooba Mufti was shifted there. Mehbooba was initially taken into “preventive custody” on August 5, 2019, when the BJP government abrogated Article 370. Later she was booked under Public Safety Act. The former CM was first lodged at Cheshmashahi sub-jail and then shifted to her Fairview residence as a political detainee. Now she has moved from the residence a day after she pledged to force the Centre to return J&K’s special status. 

In her speech on Sunday, she said the BJP should restrain from behaving like raiders in Kashmir as the Valley residents successfully evicted raiders from Pakistan in 1947.

“In 1947, the people of Kashmir had no guns but they fought the raiders from Pakistan successfully without having anything at hand. I warn the BJP not to act like raiders in Kashmir. People know how to fight such raiders,” Mehbooba said accusing the BJP  government of forcing Kashmiris to silence.