Amendment in PSA unacceptable: NC

The National Conference (NC) today expressed strong resentment against the decision of the State Administrative Council (SAC) to delete a provision in the Public Safety Act (PSA) that barred authorities from lodging residents of Jammu and Kashmir in jails outside the state.

Addressing a special meeting with party leaders and legislators from Srinagar, NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said the decision would send incarcerated under-trials away from their families and would "further add to the sense of isolation" when all efforts should be made to build bridges of reconciliation with the people.

"This is an unfortunate and unacceptable decision that the NC opposes unequivocally and unambiguously. We appeal to the governor to reconsider this decision of the SAC," Sagar said.

He said the Omar Abdullah-led government in 2011 made specific amendments to the act which redefined the age and scope of the act's jurisdiction viz-a-viz minors, reduced the period of incarceration from one year to three months and also reduced the incarceration period in cases related to the state's security and law and order from two years to six months.

The J-K Public Safety Ordinance 2011 maintained that no resident of Jammu and Kashmir detained under the PSA could be shifted to a jail outside the state, he said.

The SAC should repeal the decision and restore the provision in the act at the earliest possible instance, Sagar said.

NC provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani said the central government and the powers that be should realise that abrogation and repeal of Article 370 and Article 35-A of the Constitution of India would "re-open the question of the state's accession to the Union of India and invalidate the constitutional bridge that connects the state to the rest of the country".

Launching a scathing attack on the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), the NC provincial president said the PDP "misled and betrayed" the people of the state for their own personal political benefits.

"Every single promise that was made by Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and then Mehbooba Mufti stands broken without any remorse. While today after being sacked by her allies - Mehbooba terms power as a 'cup of poison'. She not only enjoyed this 'cup of poison' but also ensured that illegal and illegitimate benefits are also reaped by her kith and kin," he said.

"It was under Mehbooba Mufti's rule that Jammu and Kashmir's fiscal autonomy was eroded through the extension of the GST Act and various other central acts and provisions. The people of the state will never forgive the PDP for acting as a trojan horse to weaken the state's special status," Wani added.