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“We are not criminals”, Farooq Abdullah writes to Shashi Tharoor

The central government continues to keep restrictions on the political leaders that are necessary to prevent them from fanning trouble

New Delhi: Congress leader and MP in Lok Sabha Shashi Tharoor have shared a letter by former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who criticized the central government for not allowing him to attend the ongoing winter session of parliament.

Farooq Abdullah and former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, who was in an alliance with the BJP earlier, and hundreds of political leaders are under arrest in one of the two newest Union Territories Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

He said “Thank you for your letter of 21st October 2019 which has been delivered to me today by my magistrate who looks after me. I am in the sub-jail,”

Mr. Abdullah said in the letter. “It is most regrettable that they are not able to deliver me my post in time. I am sure this is not the way to treat a senior Member of the Parliament and leader of the National Conference party. We are not criminals,” he said.

The central government continues to keep restrictions on the political leaders that are necessary to prevent them from fanning trouble.

The Congress party has been raising in parliament on the issue of extending political detention in Jammu and Kashmir, alleging that the BJP led government is not releasing Mr. Abdullah to stop him from speaking up.

Several opposition parties have also demanded that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Abdullah be allowed to attend the Parliament and participate in debates over the situation of the state. The Central government has given assurance to release all the leaders in the future.

“Letter from imprisoned Farooq Saab. MPs should be allowed to attend the session as a matter of parliamentary privilege. Or else, the tool of arrest can be used to muzzle opposition voices. Participation in parliament is necessary for democracy and popular sovereignty,” Mr. Shashi Tharoor tweeted along with the letter.

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