Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah’s mother and sister visited him in the Srinagar sub-jail to wish him on his 50th birthday on Tuesday.
Booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), junior Abdullah’s sister Safia Abdullah Khan and mother Molly Abdullah went to see him in the Hari Niwas palace, an interrogation centre that was turned into a guest house and now serves as a sub-jail for the NC leader since August 5 last year on Srinagar’s Gupkar Road.
It was a quiet celebration for the Abdullahs, as NC president Farooq Abdullah remains in detention in his own house under the PSA.
“Wishing my brother, Omar, a very happy 50th birthday!” wrote Ms. Khan on Twitter.
She promised to carry the wishes expressed on Twitter to her brother. With 3.1M followers on Twitter, his timeline was flooded with birthday wishes by his fans and supporters.
“I remember your passionate defense of “Idea of India” to find building blocks of a new narrative between India and Pakistan. Happy Birthday - keep faith. India is bigger than any one individual,” wrote Congress leader Manish Tewari.
Junior Abdullah’s sister Sara Abdullah on Tuesday declared that she was temporarily looking after her brother’s Twitter account. “(It’s) to keep track of my brother’s mentions & DMs. Will restore the account to its original owner as soon as he’s out,” reads the massage from Sara.
NC statement
On the occasion, the NC issued a statement in Jammu, which called for “release of all detainees in Kashmir, including three former Chief Ministers.”
“Curbs on civil liberties don’t augur well for the largest democracy of the world,” it said.
According to the NC, the party founder Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah also was in a jail on his 50th birth anniversary.
