Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor Arvind Kejriwal took a sarcasm at the Center that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was not allowed to meet MP Sanjay Singh, who had gone to Srinagar to oppose the arrest of AAP MLA Mehraj Malik.
Sharing a post, Kejriwal called the action of Jammu and Kashmir Police “hooliganism and dictatorship”.
The AAP convenor wrote, “The former Chief Minister, who is the father of the current Chief Minister, is not being allowed to meet Sanjay Singh in his own state? It is a sheer hooliganism and dictatorship.”
While sharing the visuals, Sanjay Singh wrote, “It is a matter of great sadness that Farooq Abdullah ji, who has been the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir many times, came to meet me at the government guest house after hearing the news of my detention by the police, but he was not allowed to meet me. What else is it if it is not a dictatorial?”
Abdullah also condemned AAP MP Sanjay Singh’s only MLA Mehraj Malik from being detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
Speaking to ANI, Abdullah argued that it was “absolutely wrong” to not allow Sanjay Singh to protest. Criticizing the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, he said that the Lieutenant Governors are using their powers for “wrong objectives”.
Former Jammu and Kashmir CM said, “This is absolutely wrong. Protest in democracy is the right given by the Constitution of India. The sad thing is that Jammu and Kashmir is a union territory and LG has all the powers. He is using it for the wrong objectives. Is it necessary to stop Sanjay Singh from speaking? It is not a constitution here.”
The AAP MP Sanjay Singh was not allowed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police to go out of the government guest house in Srinagar to protest against the arrest of party’s fellow leader Mehraj Malik.
Sharing the scene on X, Sanjay Singh called the police action “dictatorship”. He wrote, “The dictatorship is at its peak. I am in Srinagar at this time. It is our constitutional right to raise voice for rights and protest in democracy.”
Singh said that AAP leaders were about to hold protests and press conferences in Srinagar.
The AAP MP wrote, “There was a press conference and strike against the illegal arrest of Mehraj Malik in Srinagar today, but the government guest house has been converted into a police camp. I am not being allowed to leave the guest house with Imran Hussain and colleagues.”
The tour took place after being detained by AAP MLA Malik from Doda constituency, on which a case was registered on Monday under the provisions of Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act, 1978 for harmful activities to maintain public arrangements.