Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti's daughter, Iltija Mufti, on Thursday, wrote a letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah questioning him about New Delhi’s decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, and the law under which she had been detained in her house.

After India revoked Jammu and Kashmir's special status on 5 August and announced the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, Mehbooba Mufti along with several other political leaders, including former chief minister Omar Abdullah, were detained by the police on the same day.Iltija has also released a voice message saying she has been detained at her home, sources reported, where she said that almost all lines of communication with Kashmir have been snapped by the government toprevent a backlash to its decisions."I am being treated like a criminal and I am under constant surveillance. I fear for my life along with thoseKashmiris who have spoken up," she described in the audio message.

Firstpost could not independently verify the document, butin a letter first published by The Wire, Iltijia wrote, "It’s now beenover ten long agonising days since this crippling curfew was imposed. Thevalley is gripped with fear because all forms of communications have been snapped thereby debilitating an entire population. Today while the rest of thecountry celebrates India’s Independence Day, Kashmiris have been caged likeanimals and deprived of basic human rights."

Fearing unrest, India snapped telecommunications and imposed a curfew in Kashmir on 4 August, a day before its surprise presidential decreeto strip the region of its special status. Phone services and internetconnections remain suspended in the Kashmir Valley and curfew-like restrictions remain in place amid a complete communication black-out.

Restrictions on freedom of movement in the Kashmir Valley will be eased after Independence Day on Thursday, Governor Satya Pal Malik had said, although phone lines and the internet will remain cut off. Malik told The Times of India that communications will stay blocked as the government relaxes its clampdown since it stripped the region of its autonomy in early August.

"We don't want to give that instrument to the enemy until things settle down," Malik told the paper in an interview. "Ina week or 10 days, everything will be alright and we will gradually open lines of communication," he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had said that the restrictions in Kashmir will be removed in a phased manner, though police had maintained that the curbs will continue in Kashmir "for some time".