Farooq Abdullah incited youth to pick up arms, propagated secessionist ideology: Govt

New Delhi, Sep 18: Farooq Abdullah who has been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) has been accused of misusing political position for asking a new generation to pick up arms and propagate secessionist ideology.

The government has made 27 charges against the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, while detaining him under the PSA. He has also been accused of violating freedom of speech by inciting violence. Further, an incident at Hazratbal held last December, Abdullah had said the efforts of the separatists will not go waste. In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, he had said that it was the Indian government and not the terrorists who had done it.

The government has also cited his speech in a political rally in which he said that the people should be ready for a mass struggle after the elections to seek freedom from India.

Farooq Abdullah who was detained under the Public Safety Act has been confined to a single room of his home at the Gupkar Road in Srinagar. His detention under the PSA was approved by the Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary.

His residence was designated as a subsidiary jail and Abdullah is being provided with all rights of a prisoner. Officials tell OneIndia that he has been confined to a single room. The rest of the rooms have been sealed. His meeting with outsiders is restricted and only those with a legal order will be permitted.

Sources say that Abdullah's preventive detention was converted into PSA on Sunday. Prior to this, he was under preventive detention as per the procedure laid down in the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Abdullah is the second politician in J&K to be detained under the PSA after the abrogation of Article 370. Prior to this bureaucrat turned politician, Shah Feasal was also detained under the PSA. He had been detained last month at the Delhi airport while attempting to leave for Turkey. He was sent back to Kashmir and detained under the PSA.

The PSA allows for detention up to two years in the case of persons acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of the State, and for administrative detention up to one year where any person is acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued notices to the Centre on a habeas corpus petition filed by MDMK leader, Vaiko who sought for the production of Abdullah. The Centre was granted time until September 30 to file its response.

Rajya Sabha MP and MDMK founder Vaiko had moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir to produce former state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, allegedly under detention following the abrogation of Article 370, before the court.

In his plea, Vaiko has said that authorities should allow Abdullah to attend a "peaceful and democratic" annual conference, being organised in Chennai on September 15, on the occasion of the birthday of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C N Annadurai.

Vaiko, who said he is a close friend of Abdullah for past four decades, contended that constitutional rights conferred on the National Conference (NC) leader "have been deprived of on account of illegal detention without any authority of law".