J&K administration revokes Public Safety Act against Farooq Abdullah, sets him free

New Delhi: The Jammu and Kashmir authorities on Friday (March 13) revoked the Public Safety Act slapped against National Conference chairman Farooq Abdullah and also released him from house arrest. According to reports, a five-time J&K Chief Minister, Farooq can take part in parliament session from March 16 onwards.

In an order, state Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra said the PSA invoked on Abdullah on September 17 and further extended on December 13, has been revoked. The order comes into force with immediate effect.

"National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah's release from detention will be a right step for the restoration of a genuine political process in Jammu and Kashmir," the party said in a statement here today. The NC said the process will receive a further fillip when party vice-president Omar Abdullah and other political detainees are set free. "We urge the government to do so at the earliest," it said. "As the pre-eminent political party of Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has played a key role in strengthening the voice of the people through democracy and will continue to do so," the statement said. 

Farooq had been under house arrested since September 15, 2019, almost a month after the Centre scrapped the princely state Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and bifurcated the state into two union territories — Jammu and Ladakh. 

In December 2019, Farooq's detention was extended by the Jammu and Kashmir authorities for a period of three months. 

Meanwhile, several mainstream leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, including Farooq's son and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and People's Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti continue to remain under detention. 

Booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), Omar Abdullah has been under detention for the past seven months at Srinagar's Hari Nivas, where he recently celebrated his 50th birthday. Going by a couple of photographs that surfaced on social media last year, Omar had grown a long salt and pepper beard and was almost unrecognisable, triggering mostly anger and anguish from netizens. The pictures showed Omar smiling in a snow-covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard. 

According to PTI, the PSA dossier and grounds for his detention served on him late on February 6 last month accused him of having 'considerable influence' over people including ability to get voters during poll boycott calls and potential for diverting energies of public for any cause.

The Supreme court is hearing a petition of Sara Pilot challenging Omar's detention under the PSA. The political career of Omar began at the age of 28 when he became a Lok Sabha and was the youngest minister inducted in Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000 when he was appointed Minister of State for external affairs and later as commerce.

Omar, who was the chief minister of the state from 2009 to 2014, rose to fame in 2008 with his famous five-minute speech at Parliament when he, despite being in opposition, supported the Indo-US nuclear deal.