Detained PDP Youth Leader Wins Election From Pulwama, Mehbooba Hopes For Justice

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Waheed ur Rehman Para, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), today won the District Development Council polls from Pulwama.

PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said Parra’s win entails trust people repose in her party despite being hounded by the ruling BJP with false cases.

“Couldn’t be prouder of PDPs @parawahid who won his maiden election by a huge margin of votes. Despite being arrested on baseless charges right after filing his nomination people have shown their love & trust for Waheed. Hope justice prevails,” Mehbooba tweeted.

A day after submitting his nomination papers for the DDC elections from Pulwama, Parra was arrested by National Investigation Agency (NIA) earlier this month in connection with a militancy case.

NIA arrested a senior police officer Davinder Singh along with two militants in March.

Waheed was summoned by the NIA to its New Delhi headquarters for interrogation and formally arrested there.

Para, an influential youth leader from south Kashmir’s Pulwama area, is a post-graduate in peace and conflict studies.

A close aide of former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Para held the post of secretary of the J&K Sports Council during the PDP-BJP coalition government in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

He organised a massive youth rally for the then Union home minister Rajnath Singh.

Parra was among the hundreds of mainstream politicians who were detained ahead of abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year. He was released after spending almost a year in the jail.

The PDP has condemned Parra’s arrest in a statement, calling it the BJP’s attempt to “criminalise dissent”.

“He was arrested immediately after filing the nomination for the polls – a clear attempt by a central agency to meddle with the electoral process and influence it in favor of the cronies of New Delhi,” a PDP spokesperson said.