Mehbooba Mufti Released After 14 Months In Detention, PDP Chief & Former J&K CM Says ‘Will Take Back What Delhi Snatched’; Omar Abdullah Tweets ‘Welcome Out’

Mehbooba Mufti, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister was released late on October 13 after being detained by the government for nearly 14 months. Mufti along with several other top leaders of the state was detained by the government since it scrapped Article 370 in August and since being charged under the Public Safety Act (PSA), a stringent law that allows detention and multiple extensions without trial for up to three months in February. "Ms Mehbooba Mufti being released," Rohit Kansal, J&K Principal Secretary, tweeted at 9.17 pm on October 13. Mehbooba Mufti tweeted an audio message late on October 13. She said, “Today, I have been released after more than a year. All this while, the black day - August 5, 2019 - continued to assault my soul. I believe, all people in Jammu and Kashmir would be feeling the same way. None of us can forget the insult we were made to face that day.” Mufti went on to say, “What Delhi Durbar took from us with an illegal, undemocratic decision on August 5, we have to take it back”. The release comes just as a deadline set by the Supreme Court, which had been approached by her daughter Iltija Mufti with a habeas corpus petition challenging her "illegal" detention, was set to expire. On September 29 the court had questioned the central and J&K governments, asking, "How long can Mehbooba Mufti be kept in custody?" The J&K administration was given two weeks, till October 14, to explain how long they intended to do so. Hundreds of politicians, including Mufti and two other former chief ministers, Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar, were detained or arrested as part of a massive clampdown by the centre to quell backlash over its Article 370 decision.