A day after Iltija Mufti, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, accused the government of withholding passports of people and blacklisting journalists, politicians, and activists from travelling abroad, the government said J&K Police has given free clearances for passports for more than 99 per cent people who are “clean and green”.
“J&K Police is committed to speedy and hassle-free clearances for more than 99 per cent who are ‘clean and green’ and a professional filtering of those who should be prevented from availing the service — some in their own interest and others in the interest of the public,” the said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in a statement.
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On Friday, Iltija accused the CID of lying to the High Court on April 6 in her passport clearance case hearing. She accused the Passport Officer, Srinagar of withholding her passport due to no clearance from the CID. She also accused the CID of harassing people. She said the CID has devoted itself to punishing and prosecuting Kashmiris and it is only concerned about how to “implicate people” and charge them under UAPA and take away jobs from them.
Iltija said the government does not trust anyone in Kashmir. She accused the government of pressurising her lawyer for withdrawing her petition in the High Court for the issuance of the passport. She said anyone who opens mouth in Kashmir is being punished.
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In a rare statement issued by the CID in response to Iltija accusation, it said that Iltija’s claim that her lawyer was pressurised to withdraw her petition is false.
“On learning that accusations have been made that CID of J&K Police has pressurized a litigant to refrain from litigating in the High Court in connection with her passport-related grievances, a quick internal audit was carried out. J&K Police can affirm that the claim of such pressure is completely false. Nevertheless, officers are being detailed to approach the aggrieved person and ascertain details — who pressurized, when, where and under what circumstances so that the quick internal inquiry if found inadequate can be expanded to take suitable disciplinary action against the delinquent,” the CID statement said.
“J&K Police and its affiliates are public institutions and designed to serve the public interest,” the CID said, saying its passport clearance record is above 99 per cent.
It gave the following year-wise figures for passport clearances.
In 2020, out of 77,686 passport verifications received, 77,644 (99.95 per cent) were cleared.
In 2021, out of 75,714 passport verifications received, 75,176 (99.68 per cent) were cleared.
In 2022, out of 1,34,315 passport verifications received, 1,28,939 (99.61 per cent) were cleared.
The CID said security verifications before passports are issued is a high-value public service. “It is important to note that J&K Police has detected as many as 54 young boys who were wrongly given passport service during 2017-18. Unfortunately, all of them went to Pakistan, were taken to terrorist camps, trained in arms, ammunition and explosives, many of them pushed back into J&K through LoC and 26 of them died while either crossing or during encounters in the hinterland,” the CID said.
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“Lives of 12 of these young boys could be saved by the CID after their return from Pakistan, by bringing them under preventive custody so that terrorist-separatist syndicates do not succeed in pressuring them to join terror ranks,” the CID statement reads. “Eventually all of the 12 have been handed over to their families.”
“Unfortunately, 16 of them are still across and trapped in camps under the control of hostile agencies. It is heartbreaking to know that in some cases even parents had no idea that passport services have been extended to these boys of tender age. Intelligence and investigation have confirmed that in each and every case the visa to Pakistan was arranged at the behest of one or the other leader of a constituent party of Hurriyat. CID is committed to helping the parents of vulnerable young persons not to fall prey to the death traps.”
