SRINAGAR: Shamas Udin Malik, father of Aam Aadmi Party legislator Mehraj Malik, has appealed to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for his son’s release, saying he cannot keep fighting legal battles in courts, reports Daily Excelsior.
Malik, the MLA from Doda, was detained on Monday under the Public Safety Act (PSA) and shifted to Kathua jail for allegedly disturbing public peace. His arrest has triggered widespread protests in Doda, where prohibitory orders have been imposed and more than 70 people have been detained following violent clashes with security forces. Eight police personnel, including a deputy superintendent and a station house officer, were injured in the confrontations.
The PSA, a stringent law typically invoked against militants and separatists, being applied to an elected representative has sparked political uproar in Jammu and Kashmir.
Meeting Omar Abdullah on Tuesday, Shamas Udin said, “I gave my son to people, now I want him back. I told him I don’t want to keep visiting courts. I requested him to talk to the lieutenant governor and get my son released.” He added that his son’s detention amounted to “personal vendetta” by the deputy commissioner of Doda.
He alleged that the deputy commissioner had turned personal disputes with the MLA over public issues into grounds for detention under the PSA. “The DC made it a personal vendetta. He should be suspended and my son should be released,” he said.
Rejecting allegations that Mehraj Malik had hurt Sikh sentiments, Shamas Udin said his son had long-standing cordial relations with the Sikh community, both in his constituency and in Jammu.
Shamas Udin also sought intervention from senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was in Jammu on Wednesday, but stressed, “I don’t care about the party, I just want my son back.”
Authorities have justified the MLA’s detention, saying it was necessary in the interest of maintaining public order and safeguarding law and order in the region.
