“No one of us can forget the ‘insult’ and ‘humiliation’ we faced on 5 August when Article 370 was repealed ‘illegally’ and in an ‘anti-democratic’ manner,” said former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti after being released.
More than a year after she was detained, the J & K administration revoked the Public Safety Act (PSA) charges against her.
In a message to the people on Twitter, Mufti said:
“We need to take back what Delhi Darbar took away (Article 370) from us illegally and in an undemocratic manner. Not only this, but the issue of Kashmir needs to be resolved too for which several Kashmiris have given up their lives. I know the path won’t be easy but we need to continue with this struggle. Today, when I am being let off, I demand the release of others who are still in detention illegally.”
She has been in detention since 5 August 2019, when the Centre revoked special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the bifurcation of the then state into two union territories.
Her release comes just ahead of the deadline given by the Supreme Court, which is set to expire. In September, the court questioned the Centre and the J&K administration asking, “How long can Mehbooba Mufti be kept in custody?”
The top court gave two weeks' time to the Jammu and Kashmir administration to explain its stance.
‘Travesty Against Tenets of Democracy:’ Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah welcomed with a tweet the release of his political rival Mehbooba Mufti. The leader said her detention was a ‘travesty’ and against the ‘tenets of democracy.’
On 6 February, 60-year-old Mehbooba and Abdullah were booked under the PSA, which allows detention without trial for up to three months and multiple extensions.
Abdullah was released by the administration in late March and had been demanding Mufti's release since then. She was shifted to her official residence on 7 April after it was declared a subsidiary jail.
“It's callous and cruel to continue to detain Mehbooba Mufti and others at a time like this (COVID-19 outbreak). There was never much justification to detain everyone in the first place and none at all to keep them detained as the country enters a three-week lockdown. I hope Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release them,” he had tweeted a day after his release then.
‘Unjustified Detention’: Slam Leaders
Rajya Sabha MP Chidambaram said the past 14 months of arrest have been ‘unjustified detention.’
Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, tweeted: “Glad that former CM of J&K & head of PDP, Mehbooba Mufti ji has been released Detention of political leaders like this has no place in a democracy. BJP led Govt is yet to learn to give space to the opposition.”
Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of Rajya Sabha equated her detention to that of National Conference President Farooq Sahib and Former J & K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
DMK President MK Stalin took to Twitter to say, “I'm pleased to hear that @MehboobaMufti has been released from detention after 14 months. I urge the Govt to release all other political detainees as well. The democratic processes, which have been suspended during this time, must also be reinstated.”
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