New Delhi, October 19: All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act ( PSA), 1978, has been “misused” by every elected and unelected government, which has led to “untold suffering and human rights violations”.
“Sab kuch luta ke hosh mein aaye to kya kiya. Din mein agar chiragh jalaye to kya kiya,” Owaisi posted on X.
He said that the previous Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, including Omar Abdullah, could have repealed the PSA and prevented human rights violations.
“The Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 to deal with smuggling. Farooq Abdullah, GM Shah, Mufti Sayeed, GN Azad, Omar Abdullah & Mehbooba Mufti have all been CMs of J&K. They could have easily repealed PSA & prevented untold suffering and human rights violations,” the AIMIM chief said.
Owaisi stated that over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978, from the time of former JK CM Sheikh Abdullah, without fair trials.
“The law has been misused by virtually every elected CM & unelected Governors. Over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978 without criminal charges, fair trials or even a proper appeals process,” he added.
The Lok Sabha MP further stated that removing PSA has dawned on a “truncated elected government” even though previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir extended detentions of some people.
“Some detentions were extended for up to 7-12 years. One separatist was detained under the PSA and, when he was later needed, he was served with a court warrant and granted bail. Now there is a truncated elected govt, and it has dawned on it to do away with the PSA,” he added.
His remarks come after Omar Abdullah asserted that the elected government must have control over state subjects, including law and order and security, for it to remove the PSA.
“We said in the manifesto that we would remove the Public Safety and Security Act (PSA) from Jammu and Kashmir. To remove it, we must have statehood. Security, law and order, all these things should be under the control of the elected government. The day these things are ours, I won’t even wait for the assembly session. We will remove the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) through an ordinance,” the JK CM said in a press conference.
Moreover, Abdullah said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in centre should be honest in telling people that statehood for the Union Territory is subject to their coming to power here.
“The BJP, in its manifesto or in its promises to Parliament and to the Supreme Court, never said that statehood is dependent on the BJP coming to power in Jammu and Kashmir. If that is the case, I think the BJP should be honest that so long as there is a non-BJP government, you will not get statehood,” Abdullah said.
Taking a dig at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over its alliance with the BJP in 2015, the CM ruled out the possibility of future alliance with the ruling party in centre to attain statehood, saying that people in Jammu and Kashmir were still enduring its aftereffects.
“However, tying up with the BJP or an alliance with the BJP is out of the question. We’ve already seen how much that has destroyed Jammu and Kashmir. An unnecessary alliance between the PDP and the BJP was born in 2015. We are still suffering the aftereffects of that. I have no intention of repeating mistakes that other people have made,” Abdullah said. (Agencies)
