New Delhi: Clarifying that no one in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government ever called the three detained former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir “anti-national”, Federal Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said the three were under detention for making “provocative statements”.

“Please see the statements made by National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti. They made statements like the entire country will be on fire if Article 370 of the Constitution was touched. In the backdrop of these statements, a professional decision was taken to keep them under detention for sometime,” Shah told media.

He said the decision on the release of the three former CMs would be taken by the administration of the newly formed union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

“As far as the decision to release Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti is concerned, it will be taken by the local administration and not me. The local administration will release them whenever it deems suitable,” Shah added.

The Home Minister said at no point any leader in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government called Abdullahs and Mufti “anti-national”.

“No one ever called Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah or Mehbooba Mufti anti-national. They have been detained for their inflammatory speeches. If they continued with their political speeches, it could have impacted peace in the Kashmir Valley,” he said.

Several political leaders in J&K were detained on August five when the Narendra Modi-government announced abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Article 370 embodied special provisions for the state. It exempted J&K from complete applicability of the Constitution of India.

All communication lines, including phones and internet, were blocked after the scrapping of the special status of J&K on August 5.

However, on Friday, Shah said the situation in Kashmir was under control and day-to-day life was going on smoothly.

“Not a single inch in Kashmir is under curfew today,” he said.

Detainees to be released in batches

The Jammu and Kashmir administration is likely to release all political detainees, barring five, in batches in January.

According to sources in the J&K administration, all the political leaders held at MLA hostel in capital Srinagar would be released this month.

The administration will, however, continue to detain five politicians for some more time.

“The five leaders who will continue to stay in detention are People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members Mehbooba Mufti and Naeem Akhtar, and National Conference (NC) leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Ali Mohammad Sagar. They were detained on August 4, a day before the government scrapped Article 370,” the sources told Gulf News.

Farooq Abdullah has been detained in his house at Gupkar Road whereas Omar Abdullah is under detention at hotel Hari Niwas. Mufti, meanwhile, is lodged at a government house in Srinagar.

As many as 35 politicians were moved from Centaur Hotel to the MLA Hostel last month. Four of the detained politicians had been released earlier in November.

On December 30, the administration released five more political leaders belonging to NC and PDP.