VALLEY LEADERS TO BE RELEASED IN PHASES, SAYS J&K ADMN

SRINAGAR/NEWDELHI: Political leaders and activists under detention in Kashmir will be released in a phased manner after an analysis of each individual, the J&K administration said on Thursday. Officials said former CMs Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were unlikely to be freed immediately.

The former chief ministers are among over 500 political leaders and activists under detention since August. They were detained when the Centre moved to effectively abrogate the Constitution’s Article 370, which conferred special status on Jammu and Kashmir. The Centre also decided to split the state into two union territories —J&K and Ladakh. “Have hope. They [politicians under detention] will be released one by one after proper analysis of every individual and proper review,” said Farooq Khan, an advisor to governor Satya Pal Malik, who has helmed J&K since June 2018. Khan said this when asked about the future course of action regarding the detention of the politicians.

Home ministry officials said leaders with health issues were likely to get a priority in the release of the political detainees.

Khan’s comments came a day after leaders of the Abdullahs’ National Conference and Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Jammu said that the administration had ended restrictions on their movement.

Jammu divisional commissioner Sanjeev Verma insisted that these leaders were never detained and were free to participate in political activities. “We never restrained them... They were under self-imposed restriction,” news agency Press Trust of India quoted Verma as saying.

The home ministry officials cited above linked the release of detained political activists to the Block Development Council (BDC) elections being held in J&K on October 21.

Congress leader Ghulam Ahmed Mir on Monday opposed the BDC polls that are being held on party lines, wondering how the elections could be held when top politicians remained under detention. Strengthening of grassroots democratic institutions is one of the key plans of the Union home ministry in J&K. Panchayat members and heads will elect BDC chairpersons in the elections on October 24.

Panchayat elections were held in J&K in November and December last year and 26,639 panches and 3,652 sarpanches were elected. Detained political activists in places like Srinagar and Kulgam are unlikely to be released as Panchyat elections were not held there, the officials said. The issue of the release of detained political activists and relaxations in restrictions on telecom connectivity is being reviewed daily at various levels including at the Union home ministry, one of the officials cited above said.

A lockdown and communication blackout was also imposed in Kashmir in August to prevent protests against changes to J&K’s constitutional status and reorganisation. Landline phones have since been restored while mobile phone connectivity has been made partly functional.

Major Genral Ajay Das (retd), who has served in Jammu and Kashmir for several years, said: “The areas of concern include incitement of violence by external players like Pakistan and those by political elite who have lost out because of the new arrangement. The calibrated restoration of communication and release of political activists are a welcome move to handle the situation.”