Srinagar:Former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti daughter Iltija said alleged that the Central government has been “lying” about the restrictions in the state and releasing the detained civilians, more than two months after the abrogation of the provisions under Article 370.

Tweeting from Mehbooba Mufti’s Twitter handle, Iltija said Section 144, which prohibits the gathering of more than four people, is “very much in place”. She further said that the local press of Jammu and Kashmir has been “threatened not to report the ground realities”.

“If they refuse to do so, they are told they will be jailed,” Iltija said in a tweet.

“The government is lying about restrictions being lifted. Odd that ‘traffic’ has become the only and the new benchmark for normalcy in Kashmir…The government claims of releasing people under house arrest and those detained in sub jails is patent nonsense. Khalida Shah Sahiba and her son Muzaffar Shah were under still house arrest despite the government claiming otherwise,” she tweeted.

GOIs claims of releasing people under house arrest & those detained in sub jails is patent nonsense. Khalida Shah Sahiba and her son Muzaffar Shah were under still house arrest despite government claiming otherwise

Contrary to the claims of Home Minister Amit Shah that “restrictions under Section 144 are imposed only in six police stations”, Iltija said the restrictions under Section 144 are very much in place.

“Section 144, prohibiting the gathering of over four people, [is] very much in place. Heavy deployment of armed forces and every 100 yards one sees military men with rifles and guns on the roads. Extremely disconcerting and far from what one calls normal,” she tweeted.

Iltija further claims that “a common rumour in Srinagar is some street vendors are being paid on a daily basis to maintain the ‘facade of normalcy’.”

She said, “Have heard rumours about funds from ‘Delhi’ being used to break the civil resistance.”

About the protests in J&K against the scrapping of provisions under Article 370, Iltija said, “A group of women in Shopian protested a few days ago only to have their husbands and male relatives arrested by police.”

“Right to protest peacefully has been snatched from Kashmiris.”