New Delhi: Launching an attack against the opposition for condemning the BJP for the continued detention of three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir - Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti – Union Home Minister Amit Shah pointed out that the Congress party, when in power, had jailed the then “Prime Minister” of J&K for 11 years.
In an exclusive interview to News18 Network’s Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, Shah said, “The Congress as well as the National Conference (NC) are trying to make an issue out of this. I want to tell these two parties that we haven't turned the politics of the Valley on its head. The Congress kept Sheikh Abdullah in jail for 11 years and the chief minister of the state was also jailed.”
Shah said the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken a big step and “if we feel there is any intention on the part of anyone to incite violence, we have to take these pre-emptive steps. Our top priority is to establish peace in Kashmir”.
It was in 1953 that Sheikh Abdullah, who was considered to be a good friend of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, was put behind bars in connection with the infamous 'Kashmir conspiracy case'. It was alleged that the top Kashmiri leadership under the guidance of Abdullah was trying to promote secession.
Abdullah was released in 1964 in what was seen to be a peace deal between the two parties for an agreement on Kashmir. The same year, he visited Pakistan and 11 years later, Abdullah and the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed an accord paving way for him to return to power in his state.
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