I pray for early release of Abdullahs, Mufti from detention: Rajnath Singh

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Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that he is praying for the early release of three former Jammy and Kashmir chief ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — from their detention.

He also said that he hopes they will contribute to normalising the situation in the erstwhile state.

Singh said he will pray for early release of the Abdullahs and Mufti from their detention. "I also pray that once they are out, they work and contribute towards improvement of the situation in Kashmir," he added.

Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar of the National Conference (NC) and Mufti of the J&K Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are among the other politicians who are currently placed under preventive detention. They have been under detention since August 2019 when the Centre abrogated provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcated J&K into two union territories.

Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti were recently detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA). Farooq Abdullah has also been booked under PSA since September 2019.

In an exclusive interview with news agency IANS, Singh said: "Kashmir has been peaceful. The situation is improving rapidly. Along with the improvement, these decisions (release of politicians from detention) will also be finalised. The government has not tortured anyone."

Singh had also defended the government’s decision by saying certain steps had been taken in the interest of Kashmir.