Stream Of Main Paradox

바카라�I am not a free man,바카라� says Mustafa Kamal, younger brother of former CM and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah. The police had told the J&K High Court that ­Kamal is a free man, but poli­cemen guarding his Srinagar residence didn바카라�t allow rep­orters to meet him. In September, they would say he was under house arrest and not allowed to meet anybody. Now they tell reporters to get an appointment from the 바카라�higher-ups바카라�. Kamal tells Outlook on phone that he is not allowed to step out of his house. 바카라�I have documentary proof and will submit it to the court,바카라� he says. So, Kamal has to prove he is not under house arrest even as he is not allowed to leave his house, point out kin of politicians, explaining why they feel it is useless to challenge their detention in court.

Unlike many other politicians, including his nephew, former CM Omar Abdu­llah, detained at Hari Niwas sub-jail, Kamal, his sister Khalida Shah and her husband Muzaffer Shah chose to challenge their 바카라�detention바카라�. When the petition came up for hearing last month, the police told the court that none of them was under house arrest since August 5. Last week, Justice Ali Mohammad Mag­rey dismissed the petition after the government produced a letter from the senior superintendent of police, Srin­agar, to the inspector general of police (IGP), Kas­hmir, saying the petitioners were not put under house arrest.

 바카라�These are political cases and political arrests,바카라� says a relative of a detained politician. 바카라�There is nothing legal about it, so it바카라�s a waste trying to fight it in court.바카라�

Earlier, on September 13, former IAS offi­cer Shah Faesal withdrew his habeas corpus petition against unlawful det­en­tion. The Delhi High Court allowed him to withdraw his plea after his wife filed an affidavit. Some sources claim Faesal바카라�s wife was allegedly told that he could be booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and sent to any jail outside J&K if the hab­eas corpus is pursued.  바카라�I met the petitioner (Faesal)...in the lobby of the detention centre where he is being held...at the Sher-i-Kashmir Interna­tional Confe­rence Centre in Srinagar,바카라� reads her affi­davit. 바카라�The petitioner communica­ted to me that...hundreds of other residents of...Jammu and Kashmir have been unlawfully detained.... Aware of the fact that many or most of these det­enus have no legal counsel or other remedies, he no longer wishes to pursue the present pet­ition as a legal remedy against his unlawful detention.바카라�

IGP (Kash­mir) S.P. Pani claims nobody has thr­eate­ned anyone. 바카라�They are all in judicial, not police, custody, and are free to challenge their detention,바카라� he says.

Lawyer Shafqat Hussain, who has fou­ght PSA cases for years, believes mainstream leaders are in 바카라�protective custody바카라�. 바카라�Why are they not filing petitions in the high court?바카라� he asks. 바카라�We have filed pet­i­tions on behalf of those who have been in prison for demanding the right to self-­determination and azadi. The high court has ordered shifting many prisoners to Srinagar.바카라� Since Article 370바카라�s abrogation, at least 358 petitions have been filed in the high court challenging detentions under the PSA. Among the petitioners are Kash­mir Bar Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom, former president Nazir Ahmad Ronga and general secretary Ashraf Bhat. Ailing and aged Qayoom and Ronga were taken into custody on August 5 and shifted to jails in Uttar Pradesh. Bhat was booked in late September after he allegedly accused additional advocate general Shah Aamir of misleading the high court by stating that everything is normal in Kashmir and there is no strike. Bhat too was sent to a UP prison.

The politicians perhaps took the cue on what they could face if they pursued their cases from the booking of Farooq Abdullah under the PSA on September 16, a day after the Supreme Court issued a notice to the J&K government on a petition filed on his behalf. The petition stated that if Farooq had not been ­formally arrested and no curbs placed on him, he should be produced before the apex court. National Conference MP Akbar Lone says the former CM could have challenged his detention, but decided against it.

Iltija Mufti, daughter of former CM and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, says she cannot answer on behalf of the ­detained leaders of her mother바카라�s party. Mehbooba Mufti has been lodged at Chesmashahi sub-jail.

By Naseer Ganai in Srinagar