Omar's PSA Chant Opens Dossier Against NC, Apology Sought For Detaining Thousands

Former J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah kick-started a debate around the preventive detention law called Public Safety Act on Tuesday by saying that when the National Conference government comes to power, on the first day, “this law will be repealed.”

While addressing his workers, Omar said the Central government has only kept those old laws in Jammu and Kashmir which can be used to harass the people. “There is no Public Safety Act anywhere in the country. It is only in Jammu and Kashmir,” Omar told party workers at Dooru in Anantnag district.

Lone charge

Peoples Conference president Sajad Lone was quick to accuse Omar of “lying.”

“Need a clarification in good faith. Given that JK as of date is a UT. Does UT Assembly have the power to amend or create laws pertaining to public order? Or say the PSA. So why lie?” Lone asked.

“What an irony. Those who scripted this draconian law, want us to believe they will repeal it. Even more ironic that the UT assembly just doesn’t have the powers for any such repeal. Lying through their teeth has been one consistent trait of those who scripted such laws. Can we at least have an apology from the creators of PSA which to date has resulted in the jailing of thousands of Kashmiris,” Lone said. “In percentage terms proportion of people jailed from Jammu under this law is negligible. This law was meant just for the Kashmiri,” Lone added.

Mattu accusation

Mayor of Srinagar, Junaid Azim Mattu, who was earlier with the National Conference and now with the Apni Party, also came up with a series of charges against the NC over the law. “A 2010 report suggests that up to 20,000 persons were detained under the PSA in J&K since it was enacted in 1978 by Sheikh Abdullah. 80 per cent of these detentions happened under the JKNC rule. The Courts quashed 1,706 detention orders between 2008 and 2017. 82% of these quashed orders were PSAs enacted by the JKNC-led government between 2008 and 2014,” Mattu said.  “Neither the JKNC nor the State Government recommended the amendments to PSA. The PSA was amended in 2012 following the recommendations of the then Prime Minister’s Working Group on CBMs!,”  Mattu claimed. “The amendments were grossly abused and sidestepped in reality!” he added.

“In November 1977, Sheikh Abdullah passed the Jammu and Kashmir Safety Ordinance Act (SOA) to “maintain public order and tackle Pakistan-sponsored adverse activities”. The Act put backbreaking restrictions on activists, media, newspapers and publications in J&K! The Janata Party Govt at the Centre officially censured the Sheikh Abdullah Govt for “stifling civil liberties” in J&K! Sheikh Abdullah was forced to dilute the Act the same year but he categorically refused to revoke it. In fact, he ensured that SOA evolved into PSA,” Mattu said.

“The Sheikh Abdullah Govt granted PSA legal status in 1978 in the State Legislative Assembly --- where it had a huge majority.  While the stated objective of PSA was to curb timber smuggling, it was brazenly used by NC to suppress political adversaries and opponents. Thousands of Kashmiri youth who opposed JKNC were detained under the PSA in 1977-1978!,” Mattu added.

“In fact, the first PSA detainee was Ghulam Nabi Patel, President of Kashmir Motor Drivers Association (KMDA), who had supported Janta Party against JKNC in the assembly elections in 1977! Another PSA detainee in 1987 was an election candidate from Srinagar -  Yusuf Shah (alias Syed Salahuddin) of the MUF — who JKNC slapped with PSA after rigging the 1987 elections against him and brazenly revoking his winning declaration against Khwaja Mohiuddin Shah of NC!” Mattu added.

“In 1990, the then Central Govt (with Mufti Syed as HM) invoked the Disturbed Areas Act in J&K, paving the way for the implementation of AFSPA.  After the elections of 1996, Disturbed Areas Act was FORMALLY enacted as a STATE ACT by the legislature led by JKNC!!!” Mattu said.

NC response

However, the National Conference rejected the charges, saying, “The meltdown by BJP's B teams in Kashmir on this (Omar’s) statement is not only on expected lines but proof enough where their loyalties lie.”

The law

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Security Act (PSA) is preventive detention legislation that allows the authorities to detain a person without conviction for up to two years if they are deemed a threat to public order or national security. Amnesty International has described it as ‘lawless law.’ The law has been retained after the adaptation and extension of central laws to Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370. The Jammu and Kashmir government says 890 central laws have been extended to Jammu and Kashmir and 130 state laws have applied to J&K after modifications after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019. Since August 5 scores of people have been arrested and booked under the PSA.

Earlier, under the law, a person was booked for two years without any trial but the 2011 amendment during Omar Abdullah’s government reduced the detention period to six months from two years in case of the charges of threat to the security of the State and from one year to three months in case the charges are a threat to the public order.

Under the PSA a person can be booked for six months without any trial if booked under a clause that he is a threat to the security of the State and then the detention period can be extended to another six months. However, if arrested under the PSA under a clause that he is a threat to public order, a person can be taken into preventive detention for three months, and then his period of detention can be extended to another three months.

In July 2018, the then Governor N N Vohra after the break-up of the BJP-PDP coalition government in the State, removed a legal provision that bars the government to lodge persons detained under Public Safety Act in jails outside the state. Since then a number of detainees were shifted from Srinagar and lodged in different jails, mostly in UP state.

PSA dossiers of Omar and Mehbooba

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti was arrested on August 5, 2019, the day the government revoked Article 370. She was booked under section 107 of CrPC. Six months later Mehbooba was booked under the PSA. The PSA dossier referred to Mehbooba as being a “daddy’s girl.” The dossier also equated her with Kota Rani, a medieval queen in Kashmir, who rose to power through dubious means such as poisoning her opponents. The dossier also made comments on the marital status of Mehbooba Mufti, terming that it did not “last long.”

The dossier against Omar Abdullah, when he was detained under the PSA in January 2020, after the expiry of his six months detention under 107 of CrPc, said that in spite of  being in mainstream politics, “he has been planning and projecting his activities against the Union of India under the guise of politics while enjoying the support of gullible masses, he has been successful in execution of such activities.” The grounds of detention also accused Omar of stoking public anger to cause violent protests against the decision to revocation of Articles 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution of India.

Soon after his release from detention on March 24, 2020, the first thing Omar did was change the bio of his Twitter handle. “Former PSA Political detinue, former CM of J&K state, former Union Minister, former MP, former MLA. Vice President JKNC. Tweets are my own,” Omar wrote.