New Delhi: With a few members in the Lok Sabha raising concerns over the absence of Farooq Abdullah and wanting to know from the government if the National Conference MP was safe, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Tuesday that the veteran J&K leader was perfectly fine and was staying back out of his own free will.
Shah said Farooq Abdullah was neither under house arrest, nor was he detained. “I’m saying this for the fourth time, and I have the patience to say it for the 10th time, Farooq Abdullah has neither been detained, nor arrested,” the Home Minister said in the Lok Sabha during discussions on the resolution revoking Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019.
Shah’s comments came after Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) member Supriya Sule said that Farooq Abdullah used to sit next to her in the House but he was not there and his voice was not being heard.
When Sule wanted to know if the National Conference leader was unwell, Shah said it was for the doctor to check and say. “I can’t carry out the treatment, it is up to the doctors,” he said.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor also expressed concern about Farooq Abdullah and wanted to know where he was. “Why we think it is indeed a black day? Because two former J&K CMs, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, are under arrest and the whereabouts of our own colleague Farooq Abdullah are still unclear. We want to know where he is,” he said.
Ahead of the Presidential order to repeal Article 370, many leaders in the Valley, including Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, have been reported to be under house arrest. Mobile and internet services remain suspended in the state.