Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], August 25 : Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday asked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and discuss the release of people of Jammu and Kashmir arrested under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Mehbooba Mufti held protests in Srinagar to demand the release of the prisoners jailed under the UAPA and raised the slogan "Bail, not jail".
Speaking to reporters, she said, "We wanted to hold a protest today for the innocent people jailed in Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere, especially those whose parents are not capable enough of fighting a case. We wanted to demand that Omar Abdullah speak to the Home Minister."
The PDP chief said that if the prisoners cannot be released, they should be jailed locally, in Jammu and Kashmir, as their families suffer while fighting their cases in the courts.
"If the innocent cannot be released, they should at least be jailed in the Jammu and Kashmir... Poor people cannot go to court. Who looks after them when they are ill? Who would listen to them? This is not about politics; it is about humanity," Mehbooba Mufti said.
She asked CM Abdullah to constitute a team to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir imprisoned under the UAPA in jails outside the Union Territory.
She said, "We tried bringing a resolution in the Assembly, but the government did not entertain it. They (UAPA prisoners) do not get parole, while a rapist and murderer like Gurmeet Singh gets released on parole. I request Omar Abdullah to constitute teams of Ministers to reach out to prisoners belonging to Jammu and Kashmir."
Replying to Mufti's demands, CM Omar Abdullah said that she should directly present her demands to Union Minister Amit Shah.
"All of us are concerned about it. But protesting in Srinagar is not going to help. The decisions regarding the security of Jammu and Kashmir are taken in Delhi by the Home Ministry. She should go to Delhi, meet the Home Minister, and present her points in front of him, as we did. But if she wants to protest here for the show, she can. No one has an objection to it," the Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, regarding the ongoing demand for statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, Abdullah said, "Our government was formed more than 10 months ago, and we have been trying to get the statehood since. The first decision made in the first cabinet meeting was to pass the resolution on statehood... In the first meeting with the PM, I raised the issue of statehood... The Supreme Court is also not ready to hear the matter before October 10... We hope that the SC would take a decision, if the centre has not."