Home Minister Amit Shah informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and patriarch of the National Conference, had not been detained or arrested.
Shah informed the Lok Sabha, “Farooq Abdullah is neither detained nor arrested; he is at his home of his own will.” The intervention came after MPs protested about the arrests of senior politicians in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday night, hours after the Narendra Modi government revoked Article 370, ending special status for the state. Both Farooq's son, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP were placed under arrest.
Shah made these remarks when Supriya Sule (NCP) said Farooq used to sit next to him in the House. She said Farooq is not in the House and his voice is not being heard. When Sule wondered whether Farooq was unwell, Shah said it was up to the doctors to say. "I can't carry out the treatment, it was up to doctors," he said.
DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla about the status of Farooq Abdullah. Maran alleged Farooq had been arrested. Abdullah won the election from the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency in the recent election. Maran also mentioned the provisions governing the arrest of a member of Parliament.
Earlier on Tuesday, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi tweeted about the recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir. In addition to calling the bifurcation of the state an abuse of executive power, Gandhi mentioned that “elected representatives” had been “imprisoned”.
