Srinagar: “It’s a very different world,” said Omar Abdullah on Tuesday as he stepped out of detention after nearly eight months. Sporting a long, unkempt grey-white beard, Omar drove himself to his parents’ home after walking out of the makeshift detention centre at Hari Nivas, a state guesthouse. His mother, Molly, and sister, Safia, were with him.
He tweeted later: “232 days after my detention today I finally left Hari Niwas. It’s a very different world today to the one that existed on 5th August 2019.”
It was his first tweet since August 5 last year, when he was detained following the government’s revoking of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcating the state into two union territories.
The administration later imposed the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) on him. The order revoking the PSA against Omar was issued by Home Secretary Shaleen Kabra. Omar was booked under the PSA on February 5, hours before his six-month custody under preventive detention was to end.
Abdullah’s mother was the first to arrive at the makeshift detention centre at the state guesthouse, Hari Nivas, just a few hundred metres from his official residence.
After his release, Omar had lunch at his parents’ home. “Had lunch with my mum and dad for the first time in almost 8 months. I can’t remember a better meal even though I’ve been in a bit of a daze and don’t remember what I ate,” he tweeted.
Omar also spoke to reporters, telling them they were violating orders on social distancing by coming to meet him.
“During my period of detention, I thought a lot about what I would say the moment I come out. What I would say about what happened on August 5 last year, what I would say about Jammu and Kashmir as a state that was broken up into two union territories. What I would say about the change in the status of JK, and about the hardships the people faced,” Abdullah said outside his residence.
The education of children, the tourism industry, businesses and every other sector in the state had suffered, he said.
“But today, let’s not be complacent towards the challenges being faced the world over. This is a fight between life and death. All of you have come here and it is definitely in violation of the government order,” he said.
“We should ensure social distancing and take adequate precautions. We should ensure that the coronavirus does not spread. I will talk about political developments and other aspects post August 5 but let us first fight this coronavirus,” he said.
Abdullah requested the Centre to release others detained, including PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
The National Conference leader also asked the Centre to remove communication restrictions and ensure high-speed internet.
On February 5, Omar Abdullah, who was junior foreign minister and commerce minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Cabinet in 2000, was served with a three-page dossier that was challenged in the Supreme Court by his sister Sara Abdullah Pilot.
The Supreme Court last week asked the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to inform by this week if it was releasing him, or else Abdullah’s sister’s plea against his detention would be heard on merit.
The petition could have come up for hearing on Wednesday or later this week.
PTI

Press Trust of India