'This is the lowest step in democracy'

New delhi date. Friday 7 February 2020

Veteran Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram has hailed the Centre's move to detain some Kashmiri leaders, including two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

On Friday morning, Chidambaram wrote on Twitter: "This is the lowest step taken in a democracy." How can anyone be detained without being convicted? I have been very upset about this news. When such unjust laws are enacted or enforced, what option is left to the people to make peaceful appearances? '

Striking at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chidambaram said, "The Prime Minister says opposing the law passed by Parliament will create chaos." Dignitaries like Prime Minister Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King seem to have been forgotten. Unjust law can be opposed by civil disobedience. This is Satyagraha.

Umar Abdullah and Mehbooba were among the detained leaders last year when the 370th Article that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir was repealed. He was re-detained under the Public Safety Act when his detention period came to an end after he was detained for six months.