Abdullah, who is contesting for the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar parliamentary constituency, told reporters that the arrest won’t achieve anything.
(Photo: IANS)
National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah expressed grief after a court on Wednesday granted the National Investigation Agency (NIA) custody of separatist leader Yasin Malik.
Abdullah, who is contesting for the Lok Sabha elections from Srinagar parliamentary constituency, told reporters that the arrest won’t achieve anything.
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“Mujhe bahot afsos hai. Isse koi chiz milegi nahi (I am disappointed. This won’t help gain anything),” Abdullah was quoted as saying by ANI.
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The senior parliamentarian also warned that the more “these people” (separatists) are “tormented”, the more there will be “disturbances”.
“Jitna inpe zulm karenge utni aag aur bhadkegi (The more these people are tormented, the more there will be agitations),” he said.
“People can have differences but it does not mean that you shut down the thought process which is not aligned to your ideology,” he said, adding, “This is not the way of India.”
A Delhi court sent Malik to NIA custody till 22 April. The NIA will now question him in connection with a case related to funding of separatists and terror groups in Jammu and Kashmir.
Malik was arrested in a late night raid on 22 February from his Maisuma residence. The NIA officers had also raided Malik’s Srinagar residence on 26 February.
The CBI had recently filed a petition in the state high court seeking transfer of cases against Malik to Jammu from Srinagar.
The cases relating to the alleged kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Home Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and sister of Mehbooba Mufti, and killing of five IAF personnel in 1990 are pending for the past 29 years.
Malik is also accused of killing sessions judge Neelkanth Ganju who had awarded death sentence to JKLF terrorist Maqbool Bhat.
On 22 March, the Centre banned Malik’s Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
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