SRINAGAR: The National Conference (NC) has decided to challenge the detention of party president and three time chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah, who has been booked under Public Safety Act (PSA).
“We will approach the court to quash the illegal detention of Dr Abdullah who was put under house arrest on August 5, when the Centre scrapped Article 370 and 35 A besides dividing the state into two Union Territories,” senior NC leader and Member of Parliament (MP) from Baramulla-Kupwara-Bandipora constituency Mohammad Akbar Lone said.
Dr Abdullah was recently booked under PSA when MDMK chief Vaikoo approached the Supreme Court (SC), seeking directions to the government to allow Dr Abdullah to attend a peaceful and democratic annual conference in Chennai.
However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the Lok Sabha during the discussion last month in Parliament that Dr Abdullah, Member of Parliament (MP) representing Srinagar-Badgam-Ganderbal constituency, was neither detained nor put under house arrest.
“Dr Abdullah was free to go anywhere,” Mr Shah had said.
“We cannot bring anyone to Lok Sabha on gun point,” Mr Shah had said, adding he (Dr Abdullah) must be enjoying at home.
Detention of Dr Abdullah, first under house arrest, and later under PSA evoked sharp reaction from different national and regional political parties.
The Gupkar residence of Dr Abdullah has been turned into a jail for him and large number of security forces remained deployed there.
Mr Lone said the NC has written a letter to DM, Srinagar, seeking information about the grounds under which PSA was slapped on party president Dr Abdullah.
“I, along with another MP from Anantnag constituency Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi visited the office of DM, Srinagar in this connection on Tuesday,” he said.
However, Mr Lone said since the DM was not there and they handed over a letter to the Additional DM, Srinagar. “We sought the information about the grounds Dr Abdullah was booked under PSA,” he said.
Lone said after receiving the report, the legal team will discuss it before challenging it in the court. “We will also file petition to quash the detention of Dr Abdullah,” he said, adding that the detention of NC president was “shameful” and very “unfortunate”.
The PSA was introduced in the state in 1978 to check timber smuggling and later used against anti-national elements, he said, adding “We also used it against separatists, and many innocent people fell victim to this act”.
Now Dr Abdullah was booked under the same PSA, he said, adding that the three time Chief Minister represented India on Kashmir at International platforms.
However, several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders justifying the detention of Dr Abdullah and other mainstream leaders alleged that because of their detention there was no stone pelting incident in the Kashmir valley. These leaders further alleged that they were inciting youth for stone pelting and other anti national activities.
Vice-president of the NC Omar Abdullah and other senior party functionaries and former ministers have also been detained since August 5.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, who headed a coalition government with BJP in the state until June last year, also remain under detention since August 5.
Chairmen of both the factions of the Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq are also under house arrest. Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik, Democratic Freedom Party (DFP) chief Shabir Ahmad Shah and several hundred leaders and activists of different separatist organisations besides stone pelters have been arrested.
Majority of them have been booked under PSA and shifted to different jails outside the state.
There were about 600 incidents related to Law and Order (L&O) in the Kashmir valley since August 5 during which five persons were killed and scores injured. Three persons were killed by gunmen-two in Tral in Pulwama and one shopkeeper in Srinagar-while one youth died after hit by pellets in Soura area of the city and a driver killed in stone pelting in Anantnag.
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