The President of the National Conference, Farooq Abdullah, will attend the monsoon session of parliament starting Monday, more than a year after the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was repealed under Article 370 on August 5, 2019. and local leaders were placed in preventive detention.
“Yes, I am going to attend parliament. Although they have not kept provisions to ask questions, we will have to sit for four hours a day, ”Abdullah told HT. “However, I will raise our issues there,” he added.
Abdullah is likely to receive considerable attention in this session in the context of allegations that some leaders in Jammu and Kashmir were held in illegal detention after J & K’s status was changed.
During the debate over the repeal of Article 370 last year, several opposition leaders demanded that Abdullah, a seasoned MP, be allowed to attend parliament. Abdullah had told the media in an emotional interview in Srinagar that he had to break down his home door to get out of detention and had rejected the claim of the Union Interior Minister Amit Shah that he was free to move.
Also read: Congress says prime minister should discuss LAC issue in monsoon session
The monsoon sessions will take place between September 14 and October 1 amid the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19). The last parliamentary session was interrupted on March 25 after the viral outbreak. The government has decided to eliminate Question Time and instead only written answers will be given.
Also read: The government decides not to hold a meeting of all parties before the session
Abdullah’s presence is also likely to refocus attention on the continued detention of the Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti. While most of Jammu and Kashmir’s top political leaders were released, including Farooq and his son Omar Abdullah, on March 13 and 24, 2020, Mufti continues to be detained under the Public Security Act (PSA).
In an interview with HT last month, Farooq and Omar Abdullah said they will challenge the J&K-related constitutional changes, pushed by the Center last year, both politically and legally.
.
