JK Admin Considering Release Of PSA Detainees

Jammu and Kashmir Government has sent a list of around 40 detainees booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) in August this year to the Union Home Ministry for consideration of their release, reports said.
The list of 40 detainees lodged in various jails outside Jammu and Kashmir since August this year, was sent to the Union Home Ministry for consideration of their release.
Around 450 persons are detained under PSA and majority of them are lodged in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana jails. They were mostly detained around August 5 when Articles 370 and 35A were scrapped and Jammu and Kashmir State was re-organised into Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.
These detainees whose list has been sent by the Home Department to the Home Ministry include former Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association President, Nazir Ahmad Ronga; former Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries president Dr Mubeen Shah; Advocate Zahid Ali of Jamat-e-Islamia, Shoukat Bakhshi of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and Mushtaq Ajmal of JKLF.
The others include a Sarpanch Zahoor Ahmad Mir from North Kashmir, Fridous Ahmad Baba, Bilal Akhtar, Altaf Ahmad Lone, Khalid Zargar, Abdul Rashid Shigam, Arif Sheikh, Pervaiz Ahmad Beigh, Shakeel Bhat, Latief Mir and Hilal Jan.
However, so far no decision has been taken by the MHA for their release. Sources said that whenever a decision on release of the PSA detainees is taken, they will be given preference. Two of them have been released on health grounds after intervention from Supreme Court and High Court.