Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha on Friday said Hurriyat chairman and chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was neither under house arrest nor detained. However, the Hurriyat has contested the L-G’s claim.
“There was no Public safety Act [PSA] against him [the Mirwaiz] even in 2019. He is not detained. In the past, his father was assassinated unfortunately. We keep security around his house to protect him. He needs to decide what he wants to do. He is neither under house arrest nor detained,” Mr. Sinha told the BBC in an interview in Srinagar.
A Hurriyat spokesman said, “The Hurriyat was amazed by the statement. The Mirwaiz is under house detention for the past three years since August 2019. Such blatant misrepresentation of facts and denial of his incarceration are unbelievable.”
