Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who has been in detention since the erstwhile state lost its special status in August, was shifted to her residence on Tuesday, PTI reported. However, she continues to be detained under the Public Security Act, which allows a person to be detained without a trial for three to six months.
Mufti and some other Kashmiri politicians had been charged under the Public Safety Act since February 6. These leaders have been in detention for over six months now since the Centre hollowed out Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5 to abrogate the region’s special status, and bifurcated it into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, who had also been detained, were released in March.
After his release, Omar Abdullah Abdullah also demanded the release of other Kashmiri politicians, including Mufti, who are still in detention. Following the news of his release, Iltija Mufti, daughter of Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti tweeted: “Glad he [Omar Abdullah] will be released.” She tweeted from her mother’s Twitter handle. “For all their talk of ‘nari shakti [women power]’ and women emancipation, seems like this regime fears women the most.”
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The administration had released Abdullah’s father on March 13. Farooq Abdullah was detained at his residence in Gupkar Road in Srinagar. Several Opposition leaders have questioned the government’s move to charge the politicians under the stringent law.
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