“The govt.should stop creating space for terrorists in J&K: Rahul Gandhi
NEW DELHI : Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi accused the Union government of “using Kashmir as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India”, and said that jailing of mainstream political leaders like Mr. Abdullah would create space for terrorists.
“It’s obvious that the government is trying to remove nationalist leaders like Farooq Abdullah ji to create a political vacuum in Jammu & Kashmir that will be filled by terrorists.
Kashmir can then permanently be used as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India, Kashmir can then permanently be used as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India,” tweeted the Congress leader.” Mr. Gandhi tweeted.
Mr. Gandhi urged the Centre to release all the jailed political prisoners immediately. “The government should stop creating space for terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir and release all nationalist leaders ASAP [as soon as possible],” he said.
Former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who is lodged in the Tihar jail in an alleged corruption case, condemned the arrest of Mr. Abdullah. “I have asked my family to tweet on my behalf the following:
I condemn the detention of Shri Farooq Abdullah under PSA. There is no one in Kashmir more devoted to the idea of a united India of which J&K is an integral part than Shri Farooq Abdullah,” Mr. Chidambaram’s official handle said.
“Now PSA (43 days later). Earlier BJP said 92% of people in J&K welcome dilution of Article 370; that normalcy prevails. Then Amit Shah in Parliament: Farooq Abdullah neither detained nor arrested. If no danger to public safety then, why now? Because Vaiko filed petition?” asked the former Law Minister Kapil Sibal.
The government is trying to “remove nationalist leaders like Farooq Abdullah” to create a political vacuum that will be filled by terrorists, Rahul Gandhi said today, targeting the government for the veteran Jammu and Kashmir leader’s detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
Several opposition politicians have denounced the move to use on Farooq Abdullah the PSA, a law that enables detention for up to two years without trial and has so far been applied to terrorists, separatists and stone-throwers in Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr Abdullah will face the section of the law that deals with disturbing public order, which would mean a minimum of three-month detention. His home in Srinagar will be designated a “jail” for his detention.
Till now, the 83-year-old three-time Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir had been under unofficial house arrest for six weeks without any formal paperwork. A formal charge was brought against him on Monday, as the Supreme Court took up a petition asking for his immediate release.
Hundreds of Jammu and Kashmir politicians, including Omar Abdullah – Mr Abdullah’s son – and Mehbooba Mufti, both former chief ministers, have been arrested or detained as party of a security clampdown since August 5, when the government declared that special status to the state under Article 370 would end and it would be split into two union territories.
Farooq Abdullah, however, is the first mainstream politician and the first MP to be charged under the PSA. The decision was seen by many as an attempt to pre-empt any court decision forcing his release.
CPM leader Sitaram Yechury called the move a “cowardly afterthought” by the ruling BJP. “Farooq Abdullah has stood by India through thick and thin. Why has the PSA been imposed? This is a cowardly afterthought by the BJP government with no respect for either India or its Constitution,” Mr Yechury said.
It’s obvious that the government is trying to remove nationalist ?? leaders like Farooq Abdullah Ji to create a political vacuum in Jammu & Kashmir that will be filled by terrorists.Kashmir can then permanently be used as a political instrument to polarise the rest of India. The government should stop creating space for terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir and release all nationalist leaders ASAP.
