None of us can forget the “insult” and “humiliation” we faced on August 5 when Article 370 was repealed “illegally” and in an “anti-democratic” manner, said former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti after being released as the Union Territory administration revoked the Public Safety Act charges against her, more than a year after she was detained.
“We need to take back what Delhi Darbar took away (Article 370) from us illegally and in an undemocratic manner. Not only this, but the issue of Kashmir needs to be resolved too for which several Kashmiris have given up their lives. I know the path won’t be easy but we need to continue with this struggle. Today, when I am being let off, I demand the release of others who are still in detention illegally,” Mufti said in her message to the people.
The PDP was detained more than a year ago following the abrogation of special status of the erstwhile state. The development came barely two days before the Supreme Court was to hear the matter related to her detention.
The Deputy Commissioner ordered that the PSA has been revoked with immediate effect. Her detention period had been extended for a period of three months on July 31 this year. Mehbooba, 60, who was initially put under preventive custody on August 5 last year and later booked under the stringent PSA on February 6, was shifted to her official residence on April 7 after it was declared a subsidiary jail by the authorities.
Her elated daughter Iltija expressed happiness that her mother was finally released from detention, which she alleged was “illegal, unlawful and a complete traversity of justice”. “I now hope that other youths who have been detained for over a year in various jails in and outside the state are also released soon,” Iltija told PTI.
She also signed off from her mother’s Twitter handle with a tweet: “As Ms Mufti’s illegal detention finally comes to an end, I’d like to thank everybody who supported me in these tough times. I owe a debt of gratitude to you all. This is Iltija signing off….” Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also tweeted that he was pleased to hear that Mehooba had been released after more than a year in detention. “Her continued detention was a travesty and was against the basic tenets of democracy. Welcome out Mehbooba,” he tweeted.
Iltija has last month again moved the Supreme Court against the continued detention of her mother under the stringent PSA. Mehbooba, president of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), was arrested on the eve of abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two Union Territories on August 5 last year.
Omar and his father Farooq Abdullah had also been detained under the PSA but were released in March this year.
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