Public Safety Act “misused” by every elected and unelected government in J & K: MP Asaduddin Owaisi

STC NEWS MONITORING DESK
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 19 (STC): The Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act ( PSA), 1978, has been “misused” by every elected and unelected government, which has led to “untold suffering and human rights violations,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, Lok Sabha MP and the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul *Muslimeen (AIMIM).
In a post on X, Owaisi said, the previous Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, including Omar Abdullah, could have repealed the PSA and prevented human rights violations.
“The Public Safety Act, 1978 (PSA) was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 to deal with smuggling. Farooq Abdullah, GM Shah, Mufti Sayeed, GN Azad, Omar Abdullah & Mehbooba Mufti have all been CMs of J&K. They could have easily repealed PSA & prevented untold suffering and human rights violations,” the AIMIM chief said.
According to Owaisi, over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978, from the time of former JK CM Sheikh Abdullah, without fair trials.
“The law has been misused by virtually every elected CM & unelected Governors. Over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978 without criminal charges, fair trials or even a proper appeals process,” he added.
He further stated that removing PSA has dawned on a “truncated elected government” even though previous governments in Jammu and Kashmir extended detentions of some people.
“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. Now there is a truncated elected govt, and it has dawned on it to do away with the PSA,” he added.
His remarks come after Omar Abdullah asserted that the elected government must have control over state subjects, including law and order and security, for it to remove the PSA.
(Straight Talk Communications)