Srinagar: Former Chief Minister and sitting MP of Srinagar, Dr Farooq Abdullah walked to freedom from his Gupkar residence which was converted into a sub-jail by the authorities as he was undergoing detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for the past seven-and-half months. On Friday afternoon, the administration issued an order revoking PSA slapped on him forthwith.
Coming to the terrace along with his wife and other family members, Farooq Abdullah told the awaiting media persons, “I have no words, today I am free, I am free.”
He said that he will not speak on politics until all other leaders, including his son Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, are released as they have also been detained under PSA by the authorities. Abdullah said that his freedom would be complete only when other political leaders are released, hinting towards his son Omar Abdullah who is still detained under PSA. Farooq Abdullah said that he has no words to express his gratitude to the political leaders in the country and said that he will now speak for the people of Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament.
He further said he will like to attend Parliament and speak for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Although Commissioner Secretary Home in UT administration of J&K Saleen Kabra, issued an order on Friday afternoon that they have revoked the PSA imposed on Farooq Abdullah, the Central government has already indicated that all political prisoners would be set free in a phased manner.
It is in place to mention that Dr Farooq Abdullah was detained under PSA, a stringent law which enables the detention of any person without any trial for about two years. In his dossier, the authorities have described him as a potential threat to disturb public order. The order was imposed by Srinagar District Magistrate Dr Shahid Chadhuary and now it stands withdrawn with immediate effect, said the government order on Friday afternoon.
Although Farooq Abdullah remained reserved before media, analysts in Kashmir said that decks were cleared for his release when recently the Centre allowed his old friend and former RAW chief A.S. Dulat to meet him at his residence in Srinagar. Soon after meeting Abdullah, Dulat said that the Central government should open channels of dialogue and start the process of compassion in Kashmir to come out of the present rut. Some reports said that Dulat was sent to Abdullah by the present National Security Advisor Ajit Doval with a special message. The authorities had imposed massive security clampdown and detained all mainstream political leaders soon after they decided to scrap Article 370, on 5 August last year.
A few days ago, eight Opposition parties had passed a joint resolution demanding the immediate release of all political prisoners in Kashmir with special mention of the three former Chief Ministers.
The resolution said that democratic dissent was being muzzled by the government through “coercive administrative action, which has threatened the basic ideals of Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as enshrined in our Constitution”.
However, Congress was not part of this resolution and its main faces were Sharad Pawar and Mamata Banerjee.
Farooq Abdullah, 83, was placed under detention along with hundreds of his former colleagues, including lawmakers and ministers.
Many of them are still under detention even after they have remained confined either to jails or houses for over seven months. The National Conference (NC) welcomed the release of Farooq Abdullah and issued a statement on Friday afternoon saying that it would be a right step for the genuine political process to be started in Jammu and Kashmir.
The NC urged the government to release the rest of the political prisoners, including Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. PDP also welcomed the release of Farooq Abdullah from jail and urged the government to set free all political prisoners.