Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah released
Abdullah was detained for seven months under Public Safety Act
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government has revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) of former chief minister Omar Abdullah and ended his detention on Tuesday more than seven months after he and two other former chief ministers - Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were detained ahead of the revocation of Article 370 on August 5 2019.
“Government issues orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah,” Government Spokesperson Rohit Kansal tweeted.
The order comes just a day before the hearing in the apex court.
After being released from the detention centre, Omar told the media: "Jammu and Kashmir as a state was divided into two union territories. People have faced hardships for months, children could not go to school, shopkeepers could not earn. Several major sectors too faced hardships and people were restricted to their houses."
"I thought I would speak a lot about the situation, but today I realised we are fighting a war of life and death," he added.
Demanding the release of other detainees, including People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, he said: "All those people who were detained in the state and outside should be released. I urge the government to end the communication gap. Mehbooba Mufti and all other political and non-political leaders should be released at this time."
He further commented on COVID-19 pandemic and said that all people must follow government orders to fight coronavirus.
"We must follow government orders to fight Coronavirus," he said.
Safiya Abdullah, sister of Omar Abdullah, said the family is very relieved that he is released. She said the case for his release was pending in the apex court and the grounds for his continued detention were very weak. “The news came all of a sudden, we are really happy that he is being released,” she added.
Omar was among 50 politicians who were kept under ‘preventive detention’ after the revocation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories (UTs) on August 5, 2019.
He and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were slapped with PSA on February 7 after being detained under preventive detention since August 5, 2019.
PSA was slapped on former chief minister Farooq Abdullah on September 16, 2019, after 42 days of preventive detention.
A few days before the Article 370 move by the BJP, Farooq Abdullah had presided over a meeting of all parties in Kashmir in which Omar also participated and adopted a declaration - Gupkar declaration - that they will not accept any tinkering with Article 370.
Meanwhile, Apni Party leader Atlaf Bukari has welcomed the release of Omar Abdullah and demanded the release of Mehbooba Mufti and all other political detainees.