J&K: Political leaders begin signing bonds to secure release, assure not to indulge in politics

New Delhi, Sep 20: The Centre has initiated the process to release some political leaders, who were detained in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of Article 370 being abrogated.

Some leaders are signing bonds to secure their release and the condition imposed by the Centre is that they shall not indulge in any political activity once freed. The likes of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq have signed the bond and have assured that they will no indulge in political activity. Further, three former legislators, two from the NC and one from the PDP have also signed similar bonds.

They were detained under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Home Ministry officials tell OneIndia that this is being extended to other political leaders as well. However, there are some who remain defiant and have not agreed to sign the bond.

The idea is to normalise the situation, the official said. We have also undertaken other programmes to ensure that normalcy returns to Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre had a few weeks back also initiated political dialogue. However, the Centre is taking things one step at a time and wants to ensure that such initiatives are undertaken in a phased manner.

One such programme is called the sarpanch training in which the Centre would impart training on the new laws and also the developmental schemes. This is aimed at ensuring that the officials are well versed with the new laws and schemes so that they can take it to the people, a top Home Ministry official told OneIndia.

The training programme would also be undertaken in Ladakh which would also become a Union Territory on October 31, 2019. Officials say that the draft has been prepared and once it is cleared by the Ministry of Panchyati Raj, the training sessions would be conducted in phases.