Political leaders on Friday welcomed the revocation of thestringent Public Safety Act (PSA) imposed on National Conference patron andformer chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah.
While Abdullah’s party, the National Conference (NC), termedhis release a “step in the right direction towards restoring genuinepolitical process in Jammu and Kashmir”, former Union minister and seniorCongress leader Shashi Tharoor said he welcomed Abdullah’s “belatedrelease”.
“…I hope he will soon resume his rightful place onthe front bench of the Lok Sabha, where he can address with his usualcompelling vigour the issues facing his state and the state of the nation. Hisdetention was a disgrace,” Tharoor said in a tweet.
Iltija Mufti, daughter of incarcerated PDP president andformer J and K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti demanded the release of all thosedetained following revocation of the special status of the erstwhile state underArticle 370 of the Constitution.
“Time to release all detainees including thousands ofyoung men languishing in jails outside J&K. This has gone on for far toolong & must end now,” Iltija tweeted.
Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said Abdullah’s releasewas long overdue. “The imposition of PSA on and detention of Dr FarooqAbdullah was illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional. We have all beenconcerned about his health and well being. His release was long overdue”.
The CPI(M) in Jammu and Kashmir described Abdullah’s releaseas a “step to correct one wrong among many wrongs”.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee said she prayedfor the long life of Abdullah and hoped that the other two former chiefministers — Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — will soon be released and”allowed to join the democratic process immediately.”
Another senior Congress leader Saral Patel said Abdullahshould have been released a long time back.
“…but nonetheless, better late than never, hopingthat Omar too will be released soon. Democracy is about having dialogues, notabout locking up people unilaterally just because they don’t agree withyou,” Patel tweeted.
People’s Conference also welcomed the release of the LokSabha member from Srinagar.
“We welcome the release of Dr Farroq Abdullah. And Itake this opportunity to demand the release of our Chairman Mr Sajad Lone. Heis under strict house arrest after being in detention at MLA hostel for sixmonths. We also demand release of our workers who r detained under PSA,”general secretary of PC and former minister Imran Reza Ansari said in a tweet.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Friday revoked thestringent Public Safety Act (PSA) against former chief minister FarooqAbdullah, a five-time parliamentarian and a member of the present Lok Sabha,with immediate effect.
Abdullah was under preventive detention since August 5 lastyear, the day the Centre abrogated the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. Hewas the first chief minister against whom the PSA was invoked.