KINS Desk
Srinagar, Oct 18 (KINS): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi has sharply criticised successive governments in Jammu and Kashmir for what he called “failing to repeal the Public Safety Act (PSA)”, saying the “law has been misused by almost every elected Chief Minister and unelected Governors.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Owaisi as per news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS) wrote, “The Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 to deal with smuggling. Farooq Abdullah, G. M. Shah, Mufti Sayeed, G. N. Azad, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have all been CMs of J&K. They could have easily repealed PSA & prevented untold suffering and human rights violations.”
The reaction from Owaisi came after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in a press conference in Srinagar said, “We said in the manifesto that we would remove the Public Safety and Security Act (PSA) from Jammu and Kashmir. To remove it, we must have statehood. Security, law and order — all these should be under the control of the elected government. The day these powers are vested with us, I will not even wait for the assembly session; we will remove the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) through an ordinance.”
Owaisi further wrote and alleged, “The law has been misused by virtually every elected CM and unelected Governors. Over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978 without criminal charges, fair trials or even a proper appeals process. Some detentions were extended for up to 7–12 years. One separatist was detained under the PSA and, when he was later needed, he was served with a court warrant and granted bail.”
Quoting a poetic line, he wrote, “Sab kuch luta ke hosh mein aaye to kya kiya, din mein agar chiragh jalaye to kya kiya.”(KINS)
