Owaisi slams Omar Abdullah over PSA remarks, says law misused by all J&K governments

New Delhi, Oct 19: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a dig at Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, saying that the Public Safety Act (PSA) of 1978 has been misused by every elected and unelected government, causing immense suffering and human rights violations.

“Sab kuch luta ke hosh mein aaye to kya kiya. Din mein agar chiragh jalaye to kya kiya,” Owaisi posted on X, implying that the realization to remove the PSA has come too late.

He said that former Chief Ministers, including Omar Abdullah, had the power to repeal the law but failed to do so. “The PSA was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 to deal with smuggling. Farooq Abdullah, GM Shah, Mufti Sayeed, GN Azad, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti have all been Chief Ministers of J&K. They could have repealed PSA and prevented untold suffering,” Owaisi said.

He claimed that over 20,000 people have been jailed under the PSA since its introduction, often without fair trials or due process. “The law has been misused by virtually every elected CM and unelected Governor,” he added.

Owaisi further said that it was ironic for the current “truncated elected government” to now consider doing away with the PSA when previous administrations extended detentions for years.

His remarks came after Omar Abdullah said that the PSA would be repealed once J&K regains statehood and the elected government has control over law and order. “The day these things are ours, I won’t even wait for the assembly session. We will remove the PSA through an ordinance,” Omar had said.

Abdullah also accused the BJP of delaying statehood for political reasons and ruled out any alliance with the party, citing the “destructive aftermath” of the PDP-BJP coalition formed in 2015.