Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has said that Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq is not under house arrest.
“He (Umar Farooq) is not under house arrest… His father was killed in an unfortunate incident. Police are placed around him (Mirwaiz) for his protection,” Sinha told BBC.
“He (Mirwaiz) is neither arrested nor detained. He must decide what he wants to do,” Sinha added.
The Lt Governor said that even in 2019 Mirwaiz Farooq was not detained under the Public Safety Act.
Mirwaiz Farooq was among the several separatist and mainstream leaders who were detained a day before the Centre ended Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 4, 2019.
Those detained ahead of the 370 scrapping included former Chief Ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone.
Sinha’s statement on Mirwaiz came under criticism from National Conference Vice President Omar Abdullah and the Peoples Conference Chairman.
“The same way my colleagues were locked in their homes ‘for their own safety’ for months on August 4, 2019 and the same way we get trucks parked outside our gates every once in a while because ‘inputs’ suggest an attack on Gupkar road is imminent,” Omar Abdullah tweeted.
Lone said the tradition of locking up leaders and then denying was a worn out tradition.
“I think LG sahib needs to verify facts. His statements don’t reflect reality. May I humbly state that the tradition of locking up leaders and then denying is an old worn out tradition. It has been happening for the last three decades,” he tweeted.
Earlier, the Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir and senior leader of Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam demanded the immediate release of Mirwaiz Farooq.
