Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday demanded the release of former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, saying India’s democracy is damaged when the government illegally detains political leaders.
The Peoples Democratic Party leader has been in detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) since Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 was revoked in August last year and the state was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
“India’s democracy is damaged when GOI illegally detains political leaders. It’s high time Mehbooba Mufti is released,” Gandhi said on Twitter.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration last week extended Mehbooba’s detention under PSA by another three months.
[splco_spacer]
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said the abrogation of the erstwhile state’s special status had neither ushered in development nor put an end to terrorism as being narrated by some vested interests in New Delhi, reported PTI on Sunday.
Speaking at a webinar organised by Epilogue News Network, Abdullah, a Lok Sabha member and president of the National Conference (NC), said the government took the decision on the abrogation of the special status without consulting anyone from Jammu and Kashmir.
He also alleged that the BJP has not learnt any lessons from the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in 1999 and subsequent release of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Maulana Masood Azhar as they think “they are the wisest of the wise, which is unfortunate”.
“It was passed in one day in Rajya Sabha and another day in Lok Sabha,” he said and added that the narrative sold by the government is that Kashmir would now become a part of India. “We were always part of India holding the tricolour,” Abdullah added .
[splco_spacer]
