Srinagar, Mehbooba Mufti, the President of the Peoples Democratic Party, has launched a scathing critique against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of exploiting passports as tools to repress and intimidate critics by enacting unlawful travel restrictions.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Mufti’s condemnation comes in the wake of the deportation of Nitasha Kaul, a Kashmiri-origin academic and professor at the University of Westminster, UK. Kaul was reportedly denied entry into India at Bengaluru airport without any forewarning or justification from immigration officials or the Indian government.

Mufti underscored her point by citing similar instances where individuals critical of the Modi administration faced punitive measures regarding their travel documents. Among the cited cases were Professor Ashok Swain, who had his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card cancelled, and author Aatish Taseer, whose OCI status was revoked following his critical piece on Prime Minister Modi in Time Magazine.

These actions have heightened concerns over the BJP’s alleged strategy of using travel documentation as a means to silence opposition and criticism. Mufti’s statements and the reported incidents suggest a pattern of using border control and immigration policies to target dissenting voices, raising questions about the freedom of speech and movement within and outside India.