National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah on Wednesday demanded the release of Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti.
He also vowed to fight for the revocation of the Public Safety Act (PSA), under which most political leaders have been arrested since August 5 last year.
Tagging the official handles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Twitter, Mr. Abdullah, who was released on Tuesday after 232 days in detention, said, “It’s callous and cruel to continue to detain Ms. Mufti and others at a time like this. There was never much justification to detain everyone in the first place and none at all to keep them detained as the country enters a three-week lockdown. I hope PM Modi and Mr. Shah will release them.”
Ms. Mufti, the former Chief Minister, her aides Naeem Akhtar and Sartaj Madani, and NC senior leader Ali Muhammad Sagar remain in sub-jails in Srinagar under the PSA, which allows detention of a person for up to two years.
Mr. Abdullah, also a former Chief Minister, said he had talked about the repeal of the PSA in April 2019, months before it was invoked against him and his colleagues.
The Muftis in Srinagar were expecting Ms. Mehbooba Mufti to be freed. But no such order was issued until the evening. “My mother is hearing reports of her imminent release... But she is upset at thousands of boys jailed outside Jammu and Kashmir. The trauma their families feel because of COVID-19 is unimaginable,” said Iltija Mufti, Ms. Mehbooba’s daughter.
