SRINAGAR: Hours after Union Government issued a notification for the additional deployment of 100 companies of paramilitary forces in Kashmir valley in wake of the hearing on Article 35A in Supreme Court, several mainstream political parties held protest.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a letter dated February 22, on an ‘urgent’ basis, rushed in 100 additional companies which comprise 45 companies of CRPF, 35 from BSF and 10 each from SSB and ITBP.
Article 35A, inserted in the Constitution in 1954 by way of a Presidential order, bars outsiders from settling or buying immovable property in the state.
Article 35A of the Constitution gives the Jammu and Kashmir Legislature power to decide who all are “permanent residents” of the state and confer on them special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the state, scholarships and other public aid and welfare.
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Meanwhile, J&K Police on Friday night detained Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief and Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik from his residence in Maisuma area of Srinagar and put him up in the Kothibagh Police Station.
In its continued crackdown on separatists, J&K police Saturday launched a massive crackdown on Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and detained or arrested some of its top leaders including chairman Abdul Hamid Fayaz.
The arrests and detentions of separatist leaders come two days ahead of the hearing of Article 35A in Supreme Court, which is likely to take place on Monday.
Courtesy: Photo and news by Muzamil Bhat