The Union Home Ministry has sought a report from the Jammu and Kashmir government on the circumstances under which separatist leader Masarat Alam was released from detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on Saturday.
Although the security agencies do not foresee any immediate threat to peace in the State in the wake of Mr. Alam’s release, they are keeping a close watch on the developments.
A senior MHA official said: “Presently, there are no accentuating circumstances to suggest that Mr. Alam’s release would lead to any disturbance in the State. However, keeping in view his credentials, we need to be more vigilant.”
The official said Mr. Alam had emerged as a principal organiser of the 2010 protests in the Valley and that’s why he was repeatedly detained under the PSA, a State legislation akin to the National Security Act.
From the Peoples Democratic Party’s perspective, the move is being seen as part of its “healing touch” policy.
Although all the facts surrounding Mr. Alam’s release are not public yet, sources said this time round the newly formed State government’s Home Department apparently did not approve of the extension of his detention and that the matter did not even reach the Advisory Board, set up under the PSA, for a final decision.
Mr. Alam is understood to be close to the Hurriyat’s S.A.S. Geelani faction.
The official pointed to the tweets of former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on the issue stating: “Alam was the chief architect of the 2010 protests. It’s not a coincidence that the protests died out after his hard won detention”.
Referring to the separatist leader’s release, Mr. Abdullah through his Twitter handle on Saturday said: “To say Alam wasn’t charged is a blatant untruth - he was charged under Sections 120, 121 (waging war against State), 120-B & 307 [of the Indian Penal Code] also. Yes, my Govt. detained Masarat Alam & we kept him out of circulation.”
Stating that Mr. Alam’s detention was not an ideal situation, Mr. Abdullah said “but difficult situations have to be tackled ... the summer of 2010 was never repeated again, not even after Afzal Guru’s execution & a huge reason for that was the absence of Alam. Whichever way I look at it, Alam’s detention saved lives and allowed a smoother safer pair of elections so I have no regrets at all.”
Taking exception to Mr. Alam being described as a political prisoner, Mr. Abdullah tweeted: “One last thing for those insisting on calling Alam a ‘political prisoner’ please check YouTube for his videos & then rush in to judge me .... So either Alam has turned a new leaf & done a deal with Mufti Syed or he will go back to organising trouble in the valley. Time will tell.”
