Srinagar, March 3 Lok Sabha MP and influential Shia leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi claimed on Tuesday that his security detail had been downgraded, and asserted that "such foolish acts" would not deter him from calling out "atrocities against people."
The Srinagar MP said that he was not impressed by "these trivial matters" or intimidated by the absence of security personnel around him.
Mehdi stated that as a citizen of this country, he would exercise his rights "to stand up against your atrocities, violation of laws, and the freedom and democracy granted to us by the constitution, to the last drop of my blood."
"Some fools in the Jammu and Kashmir Police and administration think that by withdrawing/downgrading my security detail and suspending my Facebook account, they will stop me from calling out their atrocities. It's laughable!" the NC leader said on X.
"My father was martyred while standing up for his people. That's what fascinates me. That's my path," he said.
Former mayor of Srinagar city, Junaid Azim Mattu, also claimed that his security had been withdrawn due to his statements on Iran and the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the joint US-Israel attack.
"For my statements on Iran and Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei's martyrdom, and for speaking out against the BJP-led government's moral abdication and deafening silence on the issue of the illegitimate and barbaric attack on Iran by the US and Israel, my security has just been effectively withdrawn with immediate effect. This is a measure aimed at silencing me," Mattu said on X.
He said that as a mainstream Kashmiri politician, "you have to be shamefully neutral and silent in the face of Israel massacring young school girls and assassinating a head of state or face consequences in 'New India'".
"Or you have to issue statements praising the administration and the police while pontificating to the mourners. Sorry, I can't do either of these things," he said.
Mattu said that 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".