Govt releases Sajjad Lone from detention
SRINAGAR/NEWDELHI: Former minister Sajjad Lone and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed Parra were released on Wednesday, even as the government told the Rajya Sabha that 437 people, including three former chief ministers of Jammu & Kashmir, remain under detention in the erstwhile state.
Lone and Parra’s release came exactly six months to the day after Parliament passed laws and resolutions bifurcating Jammu & Kashmir state into two Union territories, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, and nullified constitutional provisions (Articles 370 and 35A) that gave the region special status and its residents special privileges. To manage the fallout, many political leaders were detained and restrictions, including an internet blackout, imposed. Many of these have since been eased.
The three former CMs are
Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti; the government also told Parliament that none of those in detention is a minor.
In all, the minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy told the Rajya Sabha, “6,605” persons, who included “miscreants, stone-pelters, overground workers, separatists” were taken into “preventive custody” in August 2019 when the government nullified Article 370.
Out of the total, 444 were detained under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA). At present, 389 people are in detention under the PSA, Reddy said in a separate reply.
He added that regular reviews are undertaken on a case-by-case basis and accordingly, extension in detention or revocation is made based on reports of field agencies and the ground situation.
Lone is the most prominent of the eight Kashmiri leaders released from preventive custody since Sunday. He was a minister in Mufti’s PDP-led government which was formed in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The coalition government fell in June 2018. Lone, a former BJP ally, was detained after he joined hands with other state leaders in their opposition to any change to Jammu & Kashmir’s constitutional status.
Srinagar’s deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary announced the release of the two leaders.
The two headed to their homes following their release from a legislators’ hostel in Srinagar that has been converted into a sub-jail. “Last time when I spoke I was detained for six months,’’ Parra said while declining to comment further.
Parra is also a former secretary of the Jammu & Kashmir Sports Council.
HT was unable to contact Lone.
Government officials familiar with the matter said more leaders are likely to be released over the next few days. They added that the three former CMs are unlikely to be among them.
The release of Lone and other politicians comes in the backdrop of the Centre’s attempts to draft former Jammu & Kashmir ministers Altaf Bukhari and Muzaffar Hussain Baig in efforts to restart political activity in the region.
Bukhari and Baig have stressed the need to look beyond Article 370 and advocated the restoration of statehood and domicile laws that will protect employment and land rights.
Bureaucrat-turned-politician Shah Faesal and National Conference leader Ali Mohammad Sagar are among other prominent leaders still in detention.
In New Delhi, opposition parties in Parliament raised the issue of Farooq Abdullah’s incarceration as he completed six months in detention on Wednesday. “Three former chief ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, are languishing in jails for the past six months. They have been put behind bars without giving any proper reason,” Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said. He demanded the release of Abdullah, a member of the Lok Sabha. “Abdullah has been illegally detained.”
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay said the issue was also raised during an all-party meeting. “I would request the government to intimate this House at least about his [Farooq Abdullah] health condition,” he said in the Lok Sabha.
Congress lawmaker K Suresh said it is the responsibility of the government and the House to ensure Abdullah’s welfare and also that he exercises his right as an elected representative.
The Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Nationalist Congress Party, National Conference, and Indian Union Muslim League members entered the well of the House raising slogans seeking Abdullah’s release. Later, Congress members, along with those of several other opposition parties, walked out of the House.
(With inputs from HTC Delhi)
› Three former chief ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, are languishing in jails for the past six months. They have been put behind bars without giving any proper reason ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY , Congress leader