J&K getting normal, House panel told

New Delhi, November 15

Top officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today told a department-related parliamentary panel that the situation in Jammu & Kashmir was returning to normal and detained politicians, including former CMs, would be released, but did not mention any timeline. 

Sources said Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Additional Secretary Gyanesh Kumar briefed the panel, headed by Congress MP Anand Sharma, on the situation in the UTs of J&K and Ladakh. The Standing Committee on Home, with members drawn from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, quizzed the MHA officials on the detention of political leaders, particularly three-time former CM and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah.

Explaining the legal position related to his detention under the Public Safety Act, the MHA officials, it is learnt, told the panel members that such a detainee could approach a designated tribunal and if not satisfied with the order of the tribunal could move the HC. Abdullah is the only political leader detained under the PSA in Kashmir.

Sources said the MPs were upset over the prolonged detention of Abdullah’s son Omar as well as PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, both former CMs. They have been under detention since August 5. Asked as to when would the detained leaders be released, the MHA officials conveyed said some had been released and others would be freed gradually. — TNS