The J&K government on Tuesday revoked detention orders on the National Conference vice president and former chief minister, Omar Abdullah, under the Public Safety Act (PSA). This paves the way for his release after more than seven months. “The government issuing orders revoking detention of Shri Omar Abdullah,” tweeted J&K government spokesman Rohit Kansal. The Supreme Court last week had observed that if the Centre was not releasing the former J&K chief minister, it would take up his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot’s plea against his detention.
Safia Abdullah, Omar’s sister, told THE WEEK they were happy that Omar was being released. “We have been waiting for this this day for long,’’ she said. ”Others who are in detention should also be released.”
She said her brother’s release is going to a moment of emotional reunion for the family. The NC vice president was among 50-plus political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, including his father and NC president Farooq Abdullah, and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, who were detained after the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Initially, he was detained under ‘preventive’ detention in Hari Niwas on Gupkar Road, but was later booked under PSA in February. His photos, with him sporting a thick grey beard in detention, had gone viral and evoked sympathy from opposition leaders across the country.
The J&K authorities had citied his potential for mobilising crowds as grounds for detaining him under PSA. Unlike his father, who had the company of his wife Molly Abdullah, who came to Kashmir from London in September 2019, the NC vice president was kept in solitary confinement. He was provided access to newspapers and a television at Hari Niwas.
His mother also sent him home-cooked meals daily. His release has come 12 days after Farooq Abdullah’s PSA detention was revoked by the government.
The former chief minister was released a day after Iltija Mufti, Mehbooba’s daughter, requested J&K’s Lieutenant Governor G.C. Murmu to release detainees in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. Mehbooba’s family has also petitioned the apex court for her release.
In her plea, Iltija requested Murmu to release her mother and other detainees in view of the coronavirus outbreak. “As you’re aware, thousands of Kashmiris, including my mother, have been jailed since August 5. As the world prepares to battle the deadly COVID-19 (already declared a global pandemic by WHO), India in all likelihood has entered Stage 3 in which the virus spreads through community transmission. J&K has already reported 4 cases and the numbers will go up exponentially in the coming weeks,’’ the plea reads.
“Since no medication/vaccination for COVID exists, self-isolation has emerged as the safest bet to fight the outbreak.” It says the overcrowded jails & lack of healthcare makes these detainees highly vulnerable to the deadly contagion.
It says senior citizens over 65 years and those with an underlying illness such as diabetes, hypertension and breathing issues are especially susceptible to COVID-19. It says there are hundreds of senior citizens from Kashmir battling multiple ailments across jails in the country.
“Some of these detainees come from humble families where the members haven’t been able to afford a single trip to visit their sons & brothers lodged in jails outside Kashmir. You can well imagine their anxiety & concern in the wake of COVID pandemic,’’ it says.
“We are in the midst of an extraordinary medical situation, and healthcare systems all over the world are collapsing,’’ it said. “I urge you to consider my request. I’m sure you will agree the collective health & well-being of each of these detainees overrides every other consideration / rationale for their detention.”
