Is India still a democracy?’: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on J-K ex-CMs detention
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government over the continuing house arrest of two former chief ministers in Jammu and Kashmir, asking if “India is still a democracy”.
In a tweet this morning, Priyanka Gandhi wrote, “It’s been six months since two Ex-Chief Ministers have been incarcerated without any charges and millions of people were locked down in J&K. Six months ago we were asking how long this will carry on? Now we are asking whether we are still a democracy or not.”
Politicians, social activists, lawyers and businessmen in the Valley were detained after the Centre revoked provisions of Article 370 on August 5 and split up the erstwhile state of J&K into two union territories. While few local politicians were released, Omar Abdullah, along with two other chief ministers – his father Farooq Abdullah and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti – remain under arrest.
On January 15, Omar Abdullah was shifted to a house near his official residence from Hari Nivas as the J&K administration planned to use the premises to accommodate a ministerial delegation from the Centre visiting the Valley. Farooq Abdullah is the only mainstream politician against whom the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was slapped on September 17 for a period of three months, which was renewed on December 16 last year.
Last month, an unverified picture of former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah went viral on social media. It showed him smiling in a snow-covered jacket and sporting an unkempt greyish beard.
COURTESY INDIAN EXPRESS
