Opportunistic grounding or ideological grounding is the matter of debate, with leaders from different political parties jumping ships; this debate is even more intense. Joining the politicians in the game are new additions as various journalists and activists have also been uncovering their political ambitions; however, the credibility of these journalists and activists are sure to be questioned based on recent developments.
Talib Hussain, an ‘activist’ from Jammu and Kashmir has joined the PDP with just a few days left for the 2019 general elections. However, Talib comes with a past baggage which is sure to hinder his political ambitions. Talib Hussain comes to the political table with multiple cases of rape and domestic violence filed against him. On Hussain joining the PDP Mehbooba Mufti tweeted, “Happy to welcome well known tribal rights activist Chowdhary Talib Hussain into PDP today. He fought tirelessly to ensure justice for Rasana rape victim at the cost of his personal safety. I’m confident he will work tirelessly towards our vision for a khushaal J&K.”
Happy to welcome well known tribal rights activist Chowdhary Talib Hussain into PDP today. He fought tirelessly to ensure justice for Rasana rape victim at the cost of his personal safety. Im confident he will work tirelessly towards our vision for a khushaal J&K. pic.twitter.com/CQRSgO5n4a
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) April 1, 2019
Talib Hussain was arrested in 2018 from South Kashmir’s Tral area for allegedly raping a woman in Jammu and Kashmir’s Samba district. The women in her complaint had alleged that Hussain intercepted her with a knife in the forest and had also thrashed her. Along with serious charges Talib Hussain was also booked under the Arms Act.
In June 2018, Hussain’s wife Nusrat Begum, had also registered a case against him for allegedly torturing her and demanding dowry. With serious charges leveled against him Talib’s list was yet to exhaust. In another incident, A JNU student accused the so-called ‘activist’ of raping her in a flat in the Batla house locality of Delhi. The accusations came after she had invited Talib to attend a seminar in JNU. Talib Hussain, who is currently out on conditional bail in the rape case filed against him for raping a woman in Kashmir Samba district, was in jail for more than two months.
Talib came to the spotlight when he was part of the agitation against rape in Kathua; however, allegations of intentionally communalizing the incident and misappropriation of funds had marred the protest. Twitterati, furious over Talib, who has been accused of multiple rapes, joining PDP expressed their concerns over the microblogging platform.
Sonam Mahajan taking to Twitter tweeted, “The cat is out of the bag. Talib Hussain, a rape accused, a wife-beater and abandoner who communalized the Kathua murder case, joins PDP. We Dogras have forever been saying that Talib was planted by PDP and Geelani to disturb communal harmony in Jammu, we stand vindicated today.”
The cat is out of the bag. Talib Hussain, a rape accused, a wife-beater and abandoner who communalised the Kathua murder case, joins PDP. We Dogras have forever been saying that Talib was planted by PDP and Geelani to disturb communal harmony in Jammu, we stand vindicated today.
— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) April 1, 2019
Another former journalist tweeted, “Waah! Talib Hussain the man who came to JNU to protest during Kathua incident and ended up raping a female student who spoke about her ordeal during the #MeToo movement is now a PDP member today. You are a classic case of a woman failing all women Madam Mufti!”
https://twitter.com/TrulyMonica/status/1112660405678161920
Other than Talib, Mehbooba Mufti also has to answer some serious questions. This is another incident where PDP’s political motivations had trumped basic human values and ethics, Inclusion of a multiple rape accused in the party speaks lengths about the desperation in PDP to save their political ground in Kashmir.