Detained under PSA, Farooq put on House panel on defence

NEW DELHI: Detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) after being accused of having “tremendous potential to create public disorder”, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah has been included in a 21-member consultative committee on defence.

The name of the 81-year-old National Conference leader, in detention at his Srinagar home for over 100 days, tops the list of members of the panel headed by defence minister Rajnath Singh.

The committee’s other members include former defence minister and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, according to a notification issued by Parliamentary Affairs Ministry. Also in the list is controversial BJP MP Pragya Thakur, whose inclusion has been slammed by the Congress party.

Abdullah was detained on August 5, hours before the Union government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories.

His son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah and another ex-chief minister Mehbooba mufti were also detained along with more than 5,000 others across the state.

Meanwhile Thakur, a firsttime MP from Bhopal, is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts case, and is currently out on bail. She is facing trial for multiple charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Her nomination to the panel has triggered a political row as Congress attacked the government, saying it was unfortunate for the country that an MP accused of “spreading terror” has been nominated as member of a defence-related committee.

She stoked a controversy when she claimed that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a “patriot”. The MP was issued a show-cause notice by BJP ahead of the 2019 general election.