Dy CM criticises PSA on AAP MLA
Srinagar: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Tuesday met the father of MLA Doda Mehraj Malik who was detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) for allegedly disturbing public order.
Malik, who was detained on Monday, was subsequently lodged in Kathua district jail.
His father, Shams-ud-din Malik, came here from Doda on Tuesday evening and called on the chief minister at his residence.
“The father and other family members of Mr Mehraj Malik, Hon’ble MLA Doda, met the Chief Minister today.
“The Chief Minister reiterated that the use of PSA against the Hon’ble MLA is completely unjustified and a blatant misuse of the powers of preventive detention,” the chief minister’s office posted on X.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary on Tuesday strongly criticised the imposition of the PSA on elected AAP MLA Meraj Malik, calling it “a murder of democracy”, and urged the LG Manoj Sinha to revoke the PSA and release Malik immediately.
Surinder Choudhary raised pointed questions about the value of an elected government in Jammu and Kashmir following the imposition of the PSA on Meraj Malik. He said that people should now understand the immense difficulties and challenges that the government was facing and fighting against.
“This is a murder of democracy. PSA was not imposed on Maharaj Malik, but it was imposed on India’s democracy. Still, there is an opportunity for the Lieutenant Governor to take notice, because the police and the Deputy Commissioner are under his authority. He should ask why, if Maharaj Malik said something wrong, a simple FIR could have been filed against him. There was no major need to impose the PSA,” Choudhary told reporters on Tuesday.
