Srinagar: Political activities are likely to resume in Jammu, with the state administration releasing politicians who had been put under house arrest following the nullification of Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir.
Those released included Devendra Rana, a close aide of Kashmir’s Abdullah family, former state ministers Chaudhury Lal Singh and Surjit Salathia, and Javaid Rana and Sajid Kichloo.
“Last night (Tuesday), police informed me that restrictions put in place on me have been revoked. We have now been allowed to move around,” Rana, a National Conference leader, told ThePrint.
“I will be meeting my colleagues to decide our future course of action. Right now, it is premature to discuss what we are going to do as a party,” he added.
The release comes days after J&K chief electoral officer Shailendra Kumar announced, over the weekend, that block development council elections in the state will take place on 24 October.
Although there is no word on the detention of leaders in the Kashmir Valley, including former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, the release of Jammu-based politicians suggests that the central government plans to gradually restore political activity in the state.
‘House arrest a misnomer’
Hundreds of politicians have been under detention in Jammu & Kashmir since 5 August, when the Modi government fulfilled a longstanding campaign promise of the BJP by scrapping Article 370, which gave the state a degree of autonomy, and Article 35A, which gave local residents certain benefits like property rights.
The state administration, however, maintained that terms like “political prisoners” and “house arrest” were misnomers, saying the movement of no political leader had been restricted in Jammu.
“The words political prisoner and house arrest are misnomers. We have put no one under house arrest,” said Jammu divisional commissioner Sanjeev Verma. “There might be self-imposed restrictions. Some people might not want to roam around and now are giving it the name of house arrests,” he added.
“Everything is open in Jammu and everyone is free to move around,” said Verma. “If people don’t want to move out of their homes, it is their democratic right, but we neither had nor have put any restrictions.”
However, former BJP leader Lal Singh, who was sacked as state minister after he allegedly spoke in support of the Kathua rape-murder suspects, also said he had been under house arrest. When asked if police had informed him about the revocation of restrictions, he said, “I haven’t been informed about it. I have been home all day but what I heard is that the government expects us not to indulge in political activity.
“What will we do outside if not engage in political activity, sell milk?” said Singh, who now heads his own Jammu-centric party.
Singh said the identity of J&K needed to be protected.
“We won’t allow this to happen. There is this conspiracy being hatched… to destroy the brotherhood between Jammu & Kashmir,” he said. “Instead, the government should focus on protecting our identity. If there is no Article 370, then we should be given Article 371, which restricts purchase of land in other states like Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and so on. Our identity must be protected.”
Meanwhile, there is no official word on the status of political prisoners under house arrest in the Kashmir division. Scores of political leaders have either been put under house arrest or lodged in non-prison facilities under preventive custody.
Former J&K chief minister Farooq Abdullah was booked under the Public Safety Act last month and his residence converted into a sub-jail.
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The BJP rebel’s idea of extending Art 371 to J&K is quite an interesting and constructive one. A new version of Art 371 with some property safeguards and other rights can be discussed with Mufti, Abdullahs etc and hammered out.
Kashmiris should realize that they had very little autonomy anyway and have lost nothing , but at the same time, the Centre must show some flexibility and even handedness by offering a new ART 371 for the State., as in Nagaland, Mizoram etc.