Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chairman Yasin Malik has been detained by the state police from his home late last evening. He was picked up from his residence in Srinagar’s Maisuma at 9:30 pm, reports the Greater Kashmir.
‘No reason’ has been offered by the police for his detention, stated the spokesperson of JKLF. He is being detained at the Kothibagh police station.
Yasin Malik’s detention comes at a crucial time – just days before the Supreme Court is slated to hear petitions which question the legality of Article 35A which grants special status and privileges to residents of Kashmir. The petitions argue that Article 35A was implemented without the ratification of the Indian Parliament upon the orders of the President in 1954. Kashmir being an ‘integral part of India’ should not enjoy special privileges state the petitions.
Apart from Yasin Malik, several other people were also arrested last night including around 24 members of the Jamaat-e-Islami Jammu and Kashmir, including their leader Abdul Hamid Fayaz, from different parts of south Kashmir – places like Anantnag, Pahalgam, Dialgam and Tral. A part of the organisation called Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, the Jamaat-e-Islami has condemned the arrests and called it a part of a ‘well-designed conspiracy’. Pointing out that any change in Article 35A would be unacceptable to the Kashmiri people, the Jamaat-e-Islami stated that a ‘spree of arrests’ are currently underway in Kashmir. It further added that houses are being raided in the valley and individuals are being detained ‘prior to the hearing’ in Supreme Court. This was indicative of ‘something hatching behind the curtains’, alleged the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Several other leaders from the region have also spoken out against the arrests. Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti stated that while a man can be imprisoned, his ‘ideas’ cannot. Questioning the ‘legal grounds’ of the arrests, she added that such moves would only ‘precipitate’ matters in Kashmir.
Other voices which spoke out against the arrests include that of Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who tweeted that ‘force and intimidation will only worsen the situation’. Sajad Lone – the leader of People’s Conference also condemned the arrests of Yasin Mallika and the members of Jamaat-e-Islami stating that mass arrests were a ‘tried and failed model’ which was implemented in 1990. It would only serve to ‘worsen’ the situation stated Sajad Lone.
The large-scale arrests taking place in Kashmir come after the Pulwama terror strike which claimed the lives of more than 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14. Carried out by the terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed which operates from Pakistani soil, the terror attack has put the police and army on high alert. Crackdowns on separatists have intensified in its aftermath.
