India Tomorrow
NEW DELJHI—Student-activist Shehla Rashid’s father Abdul Rashid Shohra has alleged that her daughter had taken Rs. 3 crore from a Kashmir businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Vatali for joining the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement, a political party that was floated by Shah Faesal, an IAS officer whose resignation is yet to be accepted by the government. Shehla hit back by calling her father “wife-beater, abusive and a depraved man”.
The allegations were made by Shohra after a court in November this year barred his entry into family’s Srinagar house following a complaint of domestic violence lodged by his wife and two daughters, including Shehla.
In a letter to Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh on Monday, Shohra said that he faced threat to his life from wife Zubeida Shohra, daughter Asma Rashid and their security guard Sakib Ahmed and demanded personal security and police intervention to get access to his house.
He also sought an inquiry into the bank accounts of Shehla, Asma and Zubeida, e-mail accounts and acquisition of property in Delhi. In his letter to DGP, he alleged that Shehla had taken Rs. three crore to join politics in Kashmir from former MLA Engineer Rashid and businessman Zahoor Watali, both of whom were arrested last year by the National Investigation Agency for their alleged involvement in terror funding case.
But Shehla, in a tweet, said that the statements of her estranged father were “absolutely disgusting and baseless”. She said that this was his reaction to the ban on his entry into the family house.
Shehla clarified that she had not taken any money from Zahoor Vatali or anybody else. Shehla said that if her father had taken any money from these people on her behalf, then it is for him to explain it.
In a long tweet, she said, “Many of you must have come across a video of my biological father making wild allegations against me and my mum & sister. 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”
Shehla said that her mother, sister and herself had filed a complaint of domestic violence under which the court restrained him from entering the Srinagar house on November 17 this year. “My father has been abusive and violent towards us for as long as we can remember”, she said.
“The false that he is making is a reaction to that. My mother has tolerated abuse, violence and mental torture all her life. She has kept quiet for the sake of respect of the family. When my sister and I were kids, we were unable to protect our mother. Now that we have started speaking up against his physical and mental abuse, he has started abusing us too. In this connection, I have also filed an FIR in September”, she said.
In another tweet, Shehla said that in February 2005, President of Masjid Ummar/Welfare Committee had tried to intervene when her father wrote a letter to Shehla and her sister threatening them of dire consequences.
