Called meeting to see if colleagues are free: Farooq

SRINAGAR: Former J&K chief minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah has claimed that Thursday’s meeting with senior party colleagues at his residence was to see “whether they are free to move out of their homes or not”.
Senior functionaries of several parties were detained on August 5 last year after the abrogation of Article 375. Farooq has been alleging that the J&K government kept senior NC partymen under “house arrest” after they were released from detention in February this year.
Farooq and his son Omar, NC vice-president, had moved court seeking release of their party colleagues from house arrest. However, the J&K government on Wednesday deposed before that the court that they had released all the political leaders including four who met Farooq — NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar, provincial president Kashmir Nasir Wani, former minister Abdul Rahim Rather and senior leader Muhammad Shafi Uri.
Soon after the meeting on Thursday, Farooq told reporters, “The motive was to see if our people who have been locked-in for 12 months could come out of their homes, as the government said they are not locked. I am grateful to see them free today and hope it’s not just one time.”
“Once all the leaders are set free, we will sit together and discuss the issues (post revocation of special status of J&K) properly,” he added.
About the continued detention of PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq said, “I am in constant touch with her. I am concerned.”