PSA was expected from `autocratic` regime, says Mehbooba Mufti; Chidambaram slams govt

JAMMU: Shortly after she and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah were booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA), PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti made a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, saying it was expected from an "autocratic" regime.

"Ms Mufti received a PSA order sometime back. Slapping the draconian PSA on 2 ex-J&K CMs is expected from an autocratic regime that books 9 year olds for 'seditious remarks'. Question is how much longer will we act as bystanders as they desecrate what this nation stands for," a tweet from Mufti's official account, which is currently operated by her daughter Iltija since her detention last year, said.

The tweet came shortly after Mufti along with former chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah were booked under the PSA by the Ministry of ome Affairs (MHA) on Thursday.

The MHA had also slapped PSA on National Conference general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar, former NC MLC Bashir Veeri and PDP leader Sartaj Madni after their release from MLA Hostel in Srinagar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, reacting to the development, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram too slammed the Modi government for slapping PSA on Omar and Mufti.

The former Home Minister took to Twitter and said, ''Shocked and devastated by the cruel invocation of the Public Safety Act against Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and others.''

In a series of tweets, Chidamabaram said, ''PM says that protests will lead to anarchy and laws passed by Parliament and legislatures must be obeyed. He has forgotten history and the inspiring examples of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.''

The Congress veteran warned, ''Unjust laws must be opposed through peaceful resistance and civil disobedience. That is Satyagraha.''

Under PSA, the Jammu and Kashmir administration can keep both Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti in jail for 3 months without trial. Notably, both these leaders have been under detention for the last six months since the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, on August 5, 2019.

The 49-year-old National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and 60-year-old Mehbooba Mufti were taken into preventive custody hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre scrapped Article 370 and bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories - Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Sources told Zee Media that both Abdullah and Mehbooba will continue to be lodged in Hari Niwas and a bungalow at MA road in Srinagar respectively. 

On September 16, 2019, the Centre had revealed that former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah had been detained under the PSA. The veteran National Conference leader has been kept under house arrest since August 5, 2019.