SRINAGAR: After the Centre invited PDP chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti for talks, senior PDP leader Sartaj Madni was on Saturday released after nearly six months in detention.
Madni, a former PDP vice president and maternal uncle of Mehbooba, was detained by police on December 21 last year, a day before counting of votes for DDC polls in J&K.
Madni was among the mainstream leaders arrested after abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of J&K state into two Union Territories (UTs) by centre on August 5, 2019. He was also among the dozen mainstream leaders including three former CMs Mehbooba Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah to be booked under the stringent Public Safety Act. However, his PSA detention was revoked in June last year and he was set free.
Madni’s release has taken place after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti got an invite from the Centre for talks in New Delhi on June 24 on Jammu and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister is likely to chair the All Party Meeting (APM) of J&K political leaders in New Delhi on June 24 to discuss the restoration of statehood, delimitation process and elections, sources said.
The Centre’s invite to Mehbooba Mufti for talks came exactly three years after the collapse of the PDP-BJP coalition government headed by her following withdrawal of support by the saffron party.
On June 19, 2018, BJP had withdrawn support to the Mehbooba led PDP-BJP coalition government citing security failure.
Mehbooba and her party have been very vocal on the abrogation of Article 370 and demanding restoration of August 4, 2019 position.
The PDP chief has said she won’t compromise on her stand come what may.