Mufti gets to walk free, 14 months later
SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti was released on Tuesday, more than 14 months after being detained along with several other top leaders of the state hours ahead of the Centre’s move to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019.
Mufti, who became the first woman chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2016, was detained along with other former CMs Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and other regional leaders as the Centre moved to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories and effectively scrap Article 370 on August 5.
“After more than a year of detention, our party president Mehbooba Mufti was released today,” said Najmu Saqib, PDP spokesperson. J&K government spokesperson Rohit Kansal earlier announced the decision about the release on Twitter. Mufti’s party said that she was likely to address a press conference on Friday. The deputy commissioner ordered that Public Safety Act charges against her be revoked with immediate effect. Her detention period was extended for a period of three months on July 31 this year.
The former CM was first detained from her official residence and lodged at Cheshmashahi huts. She was moved to a government building close to the MLA hostel, where other detainees were held, in November. In April this year, she was shifted to her official residence at Fairview on Gupkar Road.
Mufti’s release came two weeks after the Supreme Court asked the J&K administration if the former chief minister’s detention under PSA can be extended beyond a year and, if so, “how long do you propose to extend it?” The bench fixed the next date of hearing on Thursday. Iltija Mufti, Mufti’s daughter who has been handling her mother’s Twitter handle, expressed her gratitude to those who supported her.