Abdul Rashid Shora, the estranged father of ex-JNU students union leader Shehla Rashid Shora, on Monday levelled serious allegations against her, accusing her of taking huge amount of money for joining politics in Kashmir valley and demanding a probe into her NGOs. He also alleged a threat of life from his daughter.
Shehla termed her father "wife-beater and an abusive, depraved man" and said the statement was his reaction after a court barred him entry into their Srinagar house on November 17 in response to a complaint filed by the family against him under domestic violence.
Here is what Abdul Rashid Shora alleged
In a letter to the Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Abdul Rashid Shora said, "I am under a constant threat of life from my daughter Shehla Rashid Shora who is supported by the elder daughter namely Asma Rashid and my wife namely Zubaida Shora as well as her security guard namely Sakib Ahmad. This threat perception started in 2017 when Shehla jumped all of a sudden into Kashmir politics."
Releasing a three-page letter addressed to the Director General of Police at a press conference, Shora claimed that he is facing a threat to his life from Shehla, her security guard, sister and her mother.
"She 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)," Shora claimed.
"Just two months before the arrest of Zahoor Vatali in terror funding case under UAPA, I was called by Vatali and former MLA Rasheed Engineer at Vatali`s residence in Srinagar in June 2017. They offered me Rs 3 crores for Shehla to join these notorious people," he claimed.
He also demanded a probe into the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), being run by Shehla, and the bank accounts of his daughters and their mother.
Abdul Rashid further said that he asked his daughter not to take this money because it is coming from illegal channels and shall be used for unlawful activities."I found that they had become part of this deal later," he added.
Abdul Rashid Shora further said that his daughter later told him that the money has been received by her and threatened him not to disclose anything about this transaction to anybody as it can put his life in danger.
He alleged that anti-national activities were going on at his house and his daughter tried to throw him out of his house.He further requested the DGP to provide him with security.
Speaking to ANI, Shehla Rashid's father said, "They offered me Rs 3 crore to join the party, so you can estimate how much money they have. During her visit to the US, the process to form the party was completed there. I told DG Saheb that due to my resistance against this, allegations are made against me."
He claimed that anti-national forces fund this kind of party and national parties will not fund it. "So there are some forces that are funding them," he said. Abdul Rashid claimed that he had no problem till Shehla was with the CPI-M because it is as good as BJP and is in the national mainstream.
He claimed that when he spoke about these things he was implicated in the domestic violence case. "When I spoke against my daughter, I was shown the way out of home in a domestic violence case. I was surprised when she entered into Kashmir politics," he said.
"I have asked the DGP for protection and have also asked to investigate that from where their funds come from," he added. "Shehla has no job and her sister has no job, however, their accounts must be looked into," he added.
"Whatever is the source of their fund should be investigated and it is to be found out why they have opened a front against me. The party she has joined, the people related to it are booked in terror funding. It is up to the agencies to find out about her involvement," he added.
Shehla responds, calls father 'wife-beater and an abusive, depraved man'
Shehla responded to the allegations in series of tweets. "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," she said.
In an statement attached with the tweet, she said, "As we mourn the death of a close family member, it is extremely sad that my father, Mr. Abdul Rashid Shora, has chosen this time to level absolutely disgusting, baseless allegations against me, my mother and my sister. Although this is a family matter, I am compelled to respond because the allegations made are of a very serious nature."
"The fact of the matter is that my mother, my sister and I have filed a complaint of domestic violence with the court under which my father - who has been abusive and violent towards us for as long as we can remember - has been restrained from entering home on 17-11-2020," she said.
"The false allegations that he is making are 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. Request everyone not to take him seriously, and let us mourn in peace," Shehla alleged.
She also tweeted out a letter from the local Mohalla Committee in 2005 to her father. "This is not a political matter, as it has been going on ever since I came to senses," she said, attaching the letter to him from Mohalla Committee in 2005.
"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," the former student leader 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," she said, attaching a court order restraining her father from entering home dated 17-11-2020. "Anything he says is an afterthought."
