Jammu & Kashmir

Discredited PSA wrongly used against MLA Mehraj Malik: Omar Abdullah

Posted on

Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) state president and sitting MLA Mehraj Malik.

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday strongly criticised the detention of Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) state president and sitting MLA Mehraj Malik under the Public Safety Act (PSA), calling the move unjustified and a blow to democracy.

“There is no justification for detaining Mehraj Malik under PSA. He’s not a threat to public safety & using this discredited law to detain him is wrong. If the unelected government can use its powers against an elected representative like this then how does anyone expect the people of J&K to continue to have faith in democracy,” Abdullah posted on X.

His reaction came a day after Malik, the only AAP legislator in the J&K Assembly representing Doda, was picked up by police and shifted to an undisclosed location. This marks the first time a sitting MLA in Jammu and Kashmir has been booked under the PSA, a preventive detention law widely criticised by rights groups.

Malik’s detention has triggered widespread political backlash. AAP MP Sanjay Singh had earlier termed the arrest “dictatorial,” accusing the administration of targeting Malik for raising his voice over the shifting of a local health centre. PDP leader Waheed-ur-Rehman Para and People’s Conference chief Sajad Lone also condemned the move, calling it an assault on democracy.

Member of Parliament, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, posted on X, “Invoking the Public Safety Act (PSA) against MLA Mehraj Malik is unjustifiable. If an elected representative has erred, he must be questioned and dealt with under due process of law. That is how accountability works in a democracy. The PSA, intended for exceptional cases of grave security threats, has been repeatedly misused in Jammu & Kashmir to detain individuals on vague and arbitrary grounds. It has effectively become a tool to silence voices. Such misuse erodes public trust in institutions and reduces a legal safeguard into an instrument of suppression. We strongly condemn the use of abusive language by Mehraj Malik, but this is not justice; it is repression.”
MLA Langate Sheikh Khursheed also slammed the PSA on Mehraj Malik and called the move undemocratic. “It is not a punishment to one person, but to all those who voted for him and chose him as their representative,” he said.

Malik, who reportedly has 18 FIRs and 10 daily diary reports registered against him, was recently booked after livestreaming a protest in Doda where he accused officials of bias and used harsh language against the district deputy commissioner.

The government has yet to formally respond to the criticism, but officials said Malik was detained for disturbing public order and interfering with relief distribution.

Related Topics:, , , , , , ,
Click to comment

Most Popular

Exit mobile version