DMK MPs protest in Parliament premises; demand Farooq Abdullah's release

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MPs on Friday staged a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Parliament premises demanding the release of National Conference (NC) leader Farooq Abdullah, who is under detention since August 5. Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, an MP from Thoothukudi constituency, Kanimozhi said, "Farooq Abdullah should be attending the Parliament but he is not allowed. He has been under arrest. This is against democracy. We are protesting for his release."

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Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, on November 18 had also said that it is 'unfortunate' that the National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah is not being allowed to attend the Parliament session. Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also was of the opinion that Abdullah should be released from house arrest and allowed to attend the Parliament as 'it is his constitutional right'.

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Farooq Abdullah's son and former chief minister Omar Abdullah and another ex-chief and PDP chief minister Mehbooba mufti were also detained along with more than 5,000 others across the state, after announcing the abrogation of Article 370 in August which granted special status to the region.

Farooq Abdullah's detention 

Farooq Abdullah Detained Under Jammu And Kashmir's Public Safety Act

The 81-year-old former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah was taken into preventive custody under the Public Safety Act (PSA) in September, with sources stating that his house was declared as a subsidiary jail in order to pave way for this. While there is no bar on meeting relatives and friends, the Parliamentarian is not allowed to leave his residence.  The PSA order stated that Abdullah "has tremendous potential for creating an environment of public disorder within the district (Srinagar) and other parts of the Valley." It also accuses him of being a person seen as fanning the emotions of general masses against the country.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer issued a notice to the Centre and the state and fixed Rajya Sabha MP and MDMK leader Vaiko's plea for hearing on September 30. However, the government objecting to the plea, said that Vaiko is not Farooq Abdullah's relative and his request for the release of the Kashmiri leader was "abuse of the process of law".

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