Under arrest, Mehbooba Mufti asks PDP MPs to quit Rajya Sabha seat

Mangalore Today News Network

Aug 08, 2019: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was moved from Hari Niwas guesthouse to Cheshma Shahi guesthouse, after she was able to send out a message asking her two MPs to resign from Rajya Sabha. The PDP chief, along with National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, was arrested hours after the government scrapped the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The Peoples Democratic Party, which was in alliance with the BJP till the latter withdrew support in June 2018, has two members in Rajya Sabha Mir Fayaz and Nazir Ahmed Laway. When Amit Shah had tabled the Bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories last Monday, MM Fayaz had torn his kurta and then along with Nazir Ahmad Laway tore copies of the Constitution, prompting the Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu to order that they be physically removed.

Before being detained, both Mufi and Abdullah had condemned the government s move, warning the decision will have far-reaching and dangerous consequences . Mufti called it the betrayal of the people’s trust while Abdullah said the government s decision was unilateral and shocking .

Meanwhile, official sources said that barring stray incidents of violence, the situation was peaceful in the Valley. With mobile, internet and cable lines snapped, people mostly remained indoors, news agency PTI reported. A 17-year-old was killed after he jumped into the Jhelum river when he was being chased by security personnel in Srinagar.

Around 400 people, including three business leaders and a university professor, mainstream and separatist activists have been rounded up by police in the latest crackdown in Kashmir, officials told The Indian Express.

Scores of activists from mainstream political parties National Conference and PDP have been detained at another makeshift detention centre at Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre while from those from other parts of the Valley have been brought to such centres in Gurez and Baramulla, PTI reported

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval reviewed the situation and was seen in a video clip having lunch with a few people in Shopian district. Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad is set to travel to Srinagar on Thursday, but sources said he is expected to be sent back from the airport.

(With inputs from ENS)