APD | India: Kashmiri leader Farooq Abdullah detained

By APD writer Rishika Chauhan

Farooq Abdullah, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir was detained under the provisions of the Public Safety Act (PSA), according to an order released on Sunday.

He has been under house arrest since August 5, when the government-imposed security restrictions and bifurcated the former province of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.

Under the provisions of the PSA, he can be held until two years without a trial. However, he has not been shifted to a jail and his house has been declared as a subsidiary jail.

Abdullah, had addressed the public from his house a day after India imposed the security restrictions. He had said, “Why could they not wait? After 70 years, they have stabbed the people of the state. As soon as our gates open, our people will be out.

"We will fight, we will go to the courts. We're not gun-runners, grenade-throwers, stone-throwers, we believe in a peaceful resolution of things."

Abdullah’s arrest is the first confirmed case of a Kashmiri politician’s detention under the provisions of the PSA, as many politicians are still under house arrest.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)