Omar leads ministers, officials to border Poonch district
This was the first outreach of Omar after becoming CM of Jammu and Kashmir.
After over two months of detention of local political leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, the state administration will release three politicians detained since August 5, after the Centre abrogated Article 370 which granted temporary special status to the state under the Constitution, officials said on Wednesday night.
Yawar Mir, Noor Mohammed and Shoiab Lone will be released on various grounds which includes signing of a bond, they said, explaining the grounds for their release, reported news agency Press Trust of India.
While Mir is a former MLA of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Rafiabad assembly seat, Lone contested unsuccessfully on a Congress ticket from north Kashmir and later resigned from the party. He was considered close to People’s Conference chief Sajjad Lone.
Advertisement
Noor Mohammed is a National Conference worker who has been managing the party’s show in Batmaloo area of the Srinagar city. Before their release, they will be signing a bond to maintain peace and good behaviour, the officials told news agency Press Trust of India.
The governor administration had earlier released Imran Ansari of the People’s Conference and Syed Akhoon of the National Conference on health grounds on September 21. More than a thousand people, including children as young as 9-years-old, politicians, separatists, and activists were detained after the August 5 decision of the Central government to abrogate the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
The detainees include three former Chief Ministers, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti. Over 250 were sent to the jails outside Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah was subsequently detained under the Public Safety Act, while other politicians were mostly detained under different sections of the criminal procedure code.
The communication and movement block imposed by the administration has come under criticism from many Human Rights organisations and US lawmakers who have urged the Indian government to lift the restrictions and release the detained citizens.
(With inputs from PTI)
Advertisement
