Farooq’s detention under PSA shameful, say senior leaders
SRINAGAR: Top politicians have criti ci sed t he three-month extension in former Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) chief minister Farooq Abdullah’s detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M K Stalin calling it shameful.
The extension in the detention under the PSA that allows for incarceration without trial was o r dered o n Sat urday. Farooq Abdullah, 82, is among three former chief ministers, who have been under detention since August when the Constitution’s Article 370 was nullified to end J&K’S special status. Hundre d s o f p e o p l e wer e detained and a lockdown and communications blackout was imposed in the region to prevent protests against the move. Most of the restrictions have since been eased.
“It is shameful to our democratic traditions and disrespectful to our Constitutional values that 82-year old Member of Parliament, Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister, and Union Minister, is being held under the Public Safety Act without any basis. I demand his immediate release!,” Stalin tweeted.
Former Union minister Yashwant Sinha called Abdullah a nationalist. “It is a pity that Farooq Abdullah’s custody has been extended by another 3 months. He is more of a nationalist than most, certainly more than the PM of India… ,” he wrote on Twitter.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor questioned how Abdullah is a threat to public safety.
“What is the evidence that Farooq Abdullah is a threat to public safety? For that matter why are [former CM] @OmarAbdullah, former BJP allies, [another former chief minister] @Mehboobamufti & [former J&K minister] Sajjadlone, & other leaders still detained? Are we to accept arbitrary arrest in our democracy?” he tweeted.