The detention of Farooq Abdullah, a three-term chief minister of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and National Conference president, was extended by three months on Saturday under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
The PSA is applicable only in J&K. Elsewhere in the country, the equivalent law is the National Security Act (NSA). Abdullah, who was among a host of leaders and activists to be detained on August 5 when the Centre abrogated Article 370 and divided the state into two Union Territories of Ladakh, and J&K, would now continue to remain at his residence that has been declared a sub-jail, officials said here.
Terming the decision as "most unfortunate" and "undemocratic", National Conference (NC) provincial president Devender Singh Rana said, "The imposition of PSA on Abdullah is itself a major setback to the mainstream politics of J&K because he has always stood by the nation and its values."
Quoting a news report about an extension of Abdullah's detention, Mufti said that the Narendra Modi government is not planning to release three former chief ministers of erstwhile J-K state -- Abdullah, his son Omar and her.
"One can be quite certain GOI (Government of India) has no plans to release any political detainees including 3 former CMs," she tweeted.
"Normalcy roulette continues," she said in an apparent reference to the government's stand that the situation is normal in the region.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also tweeted on the development. "Farooq Abdullah detention extended by three months under Public Safety Act...This is a very sad state of affairs. In our democratic country this is happening. These are unconstitutional st
The case of Abdullah, also a five-term parliamentarian, was reviewed by the advisory board of the home department of the Union Territory of J&K which recommended an extension of his detention under the PSA, officials said.
Eighty-two-year-old Abdullah, who became the first chief minister against whom the stringent public safety law was invoked, has a heart pacemaker implanted and had undergone a kidney transplant a few years ago.
Two other former chief ministers, who were detained after the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, continue to be in detention. While Mehbooba Mufti was moved from a government house in Chashme Shahi to a new location at MA Road in Srinagar, Omar Abdullah is in detention at Hari Niwas.
Besides, 35 mainstream politicians who were earlier detained at the Centaur hotel on the banks of the Dal lake, were recently moved to the MLAs hostel.
