Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Mar 7: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tonight said he had no “regrets” that his Government had detained the hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Masrat Alam who was released following the order of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
“Yes, my Govt detained Masrat Alam & we kept him out of circulation. Detention isn’t ideal but difficult situations have to be tackled,” Abdullah tweeted shortly after the release of the separatist leader.
Stating that Alam was “the chief architect” of the anti-national protests of 2010, Omar said that his detention ensured peace in the Valley even during the time of Afzal Guru’s execution in 2013 and even allowed for smooth elections.
“Alam was the chief architect of the 2010 protests. It’s not a coincidence that the protests died out AFTER his hard won detention. The summer of 2010 was never repeated again, not even after Afzal Guru’s execution & a huge reason for that was the absence of Alam.”
“Which ever way I look at it Alam’s detention saved lives and allowed a smoother safer pair of elections so I have no regrets at all,” he said in another tweet.
Omar also said that whether Alam has turned “a new leaf” and “done a deal with Mufti Sayeed” or he will go back to organising trouble in the Valley, only “time can tell”.
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