Hindustan Times :
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference vice president, Omar Abdullah on Sunday morning claimed that the government has put him and his father Farooq Abdullah under house arrest without any reason and termed this as “new J&K.”
“This is the “naya/new J&K” after Aug 2019. We get locked up in our homes with no explanation. It’s bad enough they’ve locked my father (a sitting MP) & me in our home, they’ve locked my sister & her kids in their home as well,” Omar Abdullah tweeted while posting a picture of a bullet proof bunker vehicle placed outside his house.
Terming this as a new model of democracy, Omar said the government did not give any explanation to his family members.
“Chalo, your new model of democracy means that we are kept in our homes without explanation but on top of that the staff that works in the house aren’t being allowed in and then you are surprised that I’m still angry & bitter,” Omar said in another tweet.
The police did not refer to house arrest but said movements of VIPs have been discouraged in view of the second anniversary of the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers.
“There shall be no Road Opening Party on ground. Due to adverse inputs, movement of VIPs/Protected
Persons has been discouraged and all concerned were informed in advance not to plan a tour today,” a police spokesman said. On Saturday another former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was not allowed to move from her official Gupkar residence.
Mufti had also alleged that she was stopped from visiting the family of Athar Mushtaq, who was killed in a controversial encounter on December 30 ,2020, and was placed under house arrest.
“Placed under house arrest as usual for trying to visit the family of Athar Mushtaq killed allegedly in a fake encounter. His father was booked under UAPA for demanding his dead body. This the normalcy GOI wants to showcase to the EU delegation visiting Kashmir,” she said in a tweet.
Teenager Athar Mushtaq, a resident of Pulwama, was killed along with two others Ajaz Maqbool (22) from Pulwama and Zubair Ahmad (24) from Shopian in a controversial encounter with security forces on December 30 at Lawaypora Srinagar. While security forces said that the trio was affiliated with militants and were given a chance to surrender, their families said they were innocent.
She also released a 2:06 minute video in which she was apparently not being allowed to move out of her Gupkar residence in Srinagar while an official from administration was citing ‘security issues’ as the reason.
