Srinagar: Former chief minister and National Conference (NC) Vice President Omar Abdullah claimed that he and his family, including his father and sitting MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah, have been put under house arrest since early Sunday morning.
Mr Abdullah said this is the ‘naya J&K’ where politicians get locked up in their homes with no explanation, adding besides he and his father, the authorities have also locked up his sister and her kids in their home as well.
“This is the “naya/new J&K” after Aug 2019. We get locked up in our homes with no explanation. It’s bad enough they’ve locked my father (a sitting MP) & me in our home, they’ve locked my sister & her kids in their home as well,” he wrote on micro-blogging site twitter
The former chief minister further alleged that the staff that works in the house isn’t being allowed in. “Chalo, your new model of democracy means that we are kept in our homes without explanation but on top of that the staff that works in the house aren’t being allowed in and then you are surprised that I’m still angry and bitter,” Mr Abdullah wrote.
He also posted photographs showing police vehicles outside the gates of his residence in the Gupkar area in Srinagar.
The development comes a day after former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti claimed that she was placed under house arrest to prevent her from visiting the family members of Athar Mushtaq, who was among three people killed by security forces in an encounter in Srinagar outskirts on December 30 last year.
The Army had claimed that three militants were killed in the encounter in the city outskirts on December 30 last year while the family members claimed that they were innocents and shot dead in cold blood in a fake encounter.
“Placed under house arrest as usual for trying to visit the family of Athar Mushtaq killed allegedly in a fake encounter. His father was booked under UAPA for demanding his body. This the normalcy GOI wants to showcase to the EU delegation visiting Kashmir,” Ms Mehbooba wrote on twitter on Saturday.
She further tweeted, “This reign of suppression & terror in Kashmir is the unvarnished & unpalatable truth that GOI wants to hide from the rest of the country. A 16-year-old is killed & then hurriedly buried denying his family the right & chance to perform his last rites.”
The family members of Mushtaq are protesting almost everyday demanding the body of their son.
UNI ABS