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Mehbooba took to Twitter to announce the house arrest, saying, “I’ve been put under house arrest along with other senior PDP leaders today.” She also posted pictures of the locked gate of her house on the outskirts of Srinagar.
In a series of tweets, Mehbooba accused the government of using “brute force” to suppress the people’s sentiment on the anniversary of the scrapping of the state’s special status and its bifurcation into two Union Territories.
“The house arrest comes after a midnight crackdown where scores of my party men are illegally detained in police stations. GOI’s false claims about normalcy to the SC stands exposed by theirs’ actions driven by paranoia,” she tweeted.
“On one hand, giant hoardings calling upon Kashmiris to ‘celebrate’ the illegal abrogation of Article 370 have been put up across Srinagar whereas brute force is being used to choke the actual sentiment of the people. Hope the Hon’ble SC takes cognisance of these developments at a time when Article 370 has come up for hearing,” she added.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said after denying permission to the party for organising a peaceful programme on the fourth anniversary of Article 370 abrogation, a “massive crackdown” was carried against the party leaders during the night.
03:03
“Supreme Court is the only court that can save Constitution,” says Mehbooba Mufti
A party spokesman alleged that former ministers Abdul Rehman Veeri, Nayeem Akhter and Asia Naqash, PDP general secretary Ghulam Nahi Lone Hanjura, general secretary (organisation) Mehboob Beg, and district president Budgam Mohammad Yasin Bhat were put under house arrest.
He said party chief spokesperson Syed Suhail Bukhari, youth president Waheed ur Rehman Parra, state secretary Abdul Hameed Kohsheen, additional spokesperson Abdul Rouf Bhat, district president Srinagar Abdul Qayoom Bhat and other party leaders and workers were detained in different police stations.
The spokesman also said that the roads leading to the PDP headquarters near Sher-e-Kashmir Park were sealed and no staffer was allowed to enter the office.
The National Conference (NC) also said that its party headquarter Nawa-i-Subah was “sealed” and no one was allowed to go inside.
“True to form and in keeping with the clampdown on mainstream democratic activities organised by parties opposed to 5th Aug 2019, the JKNC office has been sealed by the police. No one is being allowed in or out of the office,” it said in a social media post.
“These steps betray the nervousness of the administration & render hollow their claims regarding great improvements in the last 4 years,” it added.
The police, however, were tight-lipped about the alleged restrictions on NC and PDP leaders.
On August 5, 2019, the central government scrapped Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The state was then bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).
The scrapping of Article 370 was met with widespread protests in Jammu and Kashmir, and the state has been under a security lockdown ever since.
The 4th anniversary of the scrapping of Article 370 comes at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the government’s decision.
The court is expected to deliver its verdict on the petition in the coming weeks.
(With inputs from agencies)
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