Srinagar, Sept 10: Former chief minister and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today alleged that the arrest of Doda MLA Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA) was a move to divert public attention from the recent Hazratbal “blasphemy” incident that triggered widespread outrage in the Valley.
Mehbooba said instead of taking action against those responsible, including the Waqf Board and its chairperson, the administration chose to detain local people and book them in FIRs.
“In order to deflect attention from the blasphemy issue that deeply hurt people’s sentiments, an MLA has been sacrificed,” she alleged.
The AAP MLA Malik was booked on Monday under the stringent PSA and sent to jail for allegedly disturbing public order. His detention has triggered protests in Doda.
The PDP chief maintained that while Malik may have used harsh and abusive language, slapping PSA against a legislator and jailing him was disproportionate.
“The punishment for any such remarks is not PSA. This shows where the law stands in Jammu and Kashmir,” she told media in Srinagar.
Referring to the destruction caused by recent floods and cloudbursts in Doda, the PDP chief said Malik was only raising public issues when he was targeted.
“Instead of focusing on relief for flood-hit people, the government chose to silence the elected representative by invoking PSA,” she said.
Appealing to the Lieutenant Governor, she urged the administration to withdraw cases registered against locals in the Hazratbal incident and release Malik immediately.
Mehbooba cautioned the administration against suppressing dissent, saying that detaining people and curbing freedom of expression could aggravate the situation.
“You have seen Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and now Nepal — when people are stopped from expressing their emotions and are jailed, the situation worsens day by day, as is happening in Doda,” she said.
Last Friday, a group of worshippers defaced the emblem engraved on an inaugural plaque within the Hazratbal shrine premises, the Valley’s most revered Muslim shrine that houses the relic of Prophet Mohammad, alleging that their religious sentiments had been hurt.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police have registered a case in connection with the vandalisation of the plaque with the Ashoka emblem and questioned several people in the case so far.
Kashmiri politicians have been gunning for BJP leader and waqf board chief Darakshan Andrabi for installing the plaque. Andrabi had described the protestors as “terrorists” and demanded their arrest under the PSA.
