GOOD BEGINNING

In the past few weeks government of Jammu and Kashmir has set in motion the process of releasing all detainees including former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah and many political leaders and former lawmakers.

Embarking on this path further, UT administration in its latest order has decided to revoke the detention orders of 28 persons languishing in different jails within and outside the Union Territory, media reports said.

According to these media reports not being officially confirmed yet, UT administration has decided to revoke detention orders of many residents of Kashmir who were previously detained in UP and other parts.

According to these reports Of them, 22 are lodged in UP jails and six in Kashmir prisons, adding that prominent business leader Muhammad Yasin Khan, who heads Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) and Kashmir Traders and Manufacturing Federation (KTMF), also figures in the list. Two close associates of Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Gani Lone also figure in the list, according to these media reports.

Among the persons to be released are many workers and political activists of Sajad Lone’s Peoples Conference who are slated to be set free by authorities.

With this development, the number of PSA detention orders revoked after outbreak of deadly coronavirus has reached 170. More than 5000 people were detained after 5th August, 2019 when BJP-led Central government revoked the special status of Jammu & Kashmir, imposed curfew and restrictions.