Omar Abdullah’s family challenges his detention in SC

SRINAGAR: The family of a former held Kashmir chief minister went to India’s supreme court on Monday in a bid to overturn his detention under a law allowing incarceration for up to two years without charge.

The case was launched as it was revealed that the police case against Omar Abdullah was mainly that he has used “dirty politics” while another former state leader held under the law was a “daddy’s girl”.

Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were among hundreds of politicians and activists detained after the Indian government stripped held Kashmir’s autonomy in August last year. It imposed a tough security clampdown with internet and phones cut for months.

Last week authorities ordered the two held under the Public Safety Act, condemned by rights groups because those accused can be held for up to two years without appearing in court.

He was accused of “resorting to his dirty politics” and “instigating and provoking general masses” against the Indian government.

The police dossier also said Abdullah’s influence was a threat because he was “able to convince the electorate to come out and vote in huge numbers even during peak militancy and poll boycotts.”

This news agency saw the dossier issued justifying Mufti’s extended detention. It calls her a “Daddy’s girl”, referring to her late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, who was also a chief minister.

Mufti was “a hard headed and scheming person” whose action ranged from “speeches glorifying militants to creating fears among (the) majority population based on cheap politics.” Mufti, who had ruled in alliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was also accused of working with fighters.

The Indian government faced new criticism following the release of the dossier.

“Since when has being a ‘Daddy’s girl’ and encouraging people to vote become a crime against the nation?” wrote Priyanka Gandhi, a leader of the opposition Congress party, on Twitter.

Abdullah and Mufti are among scores of Kashmiris still held under the PSA, which had previously been mostly used against fighters opposed to Indian rule in held Kashmir.

Abdullah’s father, Farooq Abdullah, a member of the Indian parliament and former chief minister, is also held along with politicians, business leaders, lawyers and activists.