Faesal opens up on Shehla row, denies any meeting with terrorists

Srinagar: Reacting to 'his name being dragged into the family dispute of his ex-colleague Shehla Rashid Shora', former Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement president Shah Faesal said that he has never met nor consulted any of the terror accused directly or indirectly.

The remarks by the IAS officer-turned-politician, who earlier this year left politics, comes in view of Shehla's father, Abdul Rashid, asking police to probe the 'anti-national activities' of his daughter and others. However, Shehla has rejected the allegations, saying that her father is making these accusations after her mother filed a domestic violence case against Abdul Rashid. 

Faesal further said he will be glad to go before security force agencies and assist in the investigation if required. 

"As far as my name has been dragged into the family dispute of a former colleague, I want to make it clear that I have neither met nor consulted any of the terror accused persons, directly or indirectly, not to speak of seeking their support or benefitting from them," Faesal wrote on micro-blogging sit twitter.

"While I know the perils of public life, I feel extremely sad to see my name being dragged into something with which I am not even remotely associated," he said."I will be glad to go before @JKP NIA CBI ED and assist in the investigation if required," he added.

Shehla, a former JNU student leader, had joined Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement after it was launched by Faesal in March 2019. However, Shehla quit electoral political in October 2019, months after special status of J&K was scrapped.

On Monday, Abdul Rashid wrote a letter to Director General of Police (DGP), J&K, alleging that he has been facing death threats from his daughter. He said that Shehla had taken Rs 3 crore from notorious people to join Kashmir politics and urged the police to launch an investigation into her bank accounts. "Just two months before the arrest of Zahoor Watali in Terror Funding Case under UAPA, I was called by him and Engineer Rasheed (Ex-MLA) at Watali's residence at Sanat Nagar, Srinagar in June 2017," he claimed, adding that at that time Shehla was in the last semester of her Ph.D in Sociology.

"After we met, they revealed to me that the trailer of launch of Jammu and Kashmir Peoples's Movement party and urged me to extend cooperation to merge Shehla Rashid into their game plan, at that point of time Shah Faesal was in USA on education leave under the patronage of Feroze Peerzada presently, President JKPM party and Zahoor Watali," he alleged.

They offered me during the meeting Rs 3 crore for Shehla to join them, he said and added that as the money was being pumped from illegal channels and shall be used for unlawful activities, he refused and asked his daughter to not indulge in any such transactions.  

"Despite my resistance I found my wife Zubeida Shora and elder daughter Asma Rashid to be supportive of Shehla and becoming party to this deal alongwith one more person Sakib Ahmad, who was introduced to me as her personal security man by Shehla as he used to carry a pistol with him," he said.

"After a week when Shehla came to Srinagar from Delhi, she confirmed to me that she has got received the referred amount at Delhi in cash and there is no need for me to disclose anything regarding this transaction and my meeting with Rasheed Engineer and Zahoor Watali with anybody, as  this can put  my life in danger. She also told me that she has accepted the money and much more is about to come in future and so I need to shut up my mouth. As a concerned father I strongly objected to my daughter's decision for joining these notorious people as I felt the money coming will be used for unlawful activities," he said.

In a series of tweets, she said, "Many of you must have come across a video of my biological father making wild allegations against me and my mum & sis. To keep it short and straight, he's a wife-beater and an abusive, depraved man. We finally decided to act against him, and this stunt is a reaction to that."

"This is not a political matter, as it has been going on ever since I came to senses. Exhibit 1: Letter to him from Mohalla Committee in 2005 asking him not to abuse us," she tweeted alongwith the letter.

"He had never, in his wildest dreams, imagined that his obedient wife and timid daughters would ever speak up against him. Since he was restrained from entering home by the Hon'ble Court, he's trying to derail the judicial process by resorting to cheap stunts," she said.

"One may talk endlessly about justice, but charity really does begin at home. We have finally decided to not bear abuse silently, as silence only emboldens abusers. Here's the court order restraining him from entering home dated 17-11-2020. Anything he says is an afterthought," she added.(UNI)