After meeting Abdullahs, NC leaders seek release
PDP says its leaders have been allowed to meet Mehbooba
Two delegations from the National Conference (NC) met senior party leaders Farooq and Omar Abdullah in Srinagar on Sunday in what was a rare political meeting in Kashmir since at least 50 politicians were put under detention on August 5, when Jammu & Kashmir was stripped of special status and bifurcated into two Union Territories.
The delegations demanded that Kashmiri politicians be released and said there was little scope for participation in the upcoming local body polls if senior leaders remained under detention. The other major Kashmiri political party, the Peoples Democratic Party, announced that a team would be meeting former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti in Srinagar. The party initially said a delegation would meet Mufti on Monday but TV reports later said the day of the meeting was unclear.
“When the entire leadership is under arrest, there is a complete lockdown and a communications blockade, how is it possible to contest the block development polls,” asked Hasnain Masoodi, the member of Parliament from Anantnag, who met both the Abdullahs.
Devender Rana, chief of the Jammu unit of the NC, said the working committee of the party could decide on a poll strategy only after the Abdullahs are released. “If the political process has to start then these people have to be released,” he added.
This is the first time the Abdullahs were seen in public since the first week of August. Farooq, who is detained at his Gupkar road residence under the Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act, was seen waving to the crowd and signalling the victory sign. His wife, Molly Abdullah, was by his side. Omar Abdullah was seen sporting a beard and clicking a selfie with party leaders at the Hari Niwas Palace, where he has been detained. The NC leaders first met Omar Abdullah and then Farooq.
The first delegation to meet the leaders comprised of Masoodi and Baramulla MP Akbar Lone, who had obtained permission for the meeting from the Jammu & Kashmir high court. The second team to meet the Abdullahs was led by Rana and comprised other leaders of the Jammu unit of the NC who were allowed by governor Satya Pal Malik on Saturday.