'Can't keep fighting in courts, I want my son back', says father of detained AAP MLA Mehraj Malik

Jammu: Shamas Udin Malik, father of Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik who was detained under the stringent Public Safety Act in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, has told Chief Minister Omar Abdullah that he cannot keep fighting in courts and wants his son released.

Malik, an outspoken critic of the government, was arrested and placed in Kathua jail on Monday for purportedly disturbing public peace. The invoking of the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), a law often used against terrorists and separatists, against the elected representative has ignited a political firestorm in Jammu and Kashmir.

Widespread protests erupted in Doda, where authorities have imposed prohibitory orders and detained over 70 persons after violent clashes broke out between protesters and security personnel. Eight police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police and a station house officer, were injured in the clashes that began on Tuesday.

"I gave my son to people, now I want him back. I met the chief minister, who heard us and said he will see what he can do. I told him I don't want to keep visiting courts. I requested him to talk to the lieutenant governor and get my son released. Let him hold a probe into it," Shamas Udin told the chief minister when he met him on Tuesday.

"It is a long process in the court. Will he look after his four daughters or visit courts? His mother is crying. He has four daughters, they are all crying," Malik's father said.

He termed Malik's detention under the PSA a "personal vendetta".

"The Deputy Commissioner (DC) must know this better. Several sections of the PSA have been imposed on my son because of the DC. They were fighting with each other over people's issues. The DC made it a personal vendetta. He should be suspended and my son should be released," Shamas Udin said.

He said it was an individual clash between Malik and the deputy commissioner over public issues, but some people incited the administration to take stringent action against him.

"When an old woman started crying in front of Malik, he got angry. And a man can do anything when he is angry. They (the DC and MLA) were fighting, but a section of people made it an issue, resulting in this action." Shamas Udin refuted allegations of Malik hurting Sikh sentiments.

"Just ask Sikhs in Gajansoo Marh (Jammu) where he worked for years. Ask the Sikh officers about the good relationship he had with them. My son was brought up among Sikhs and he studied with them. Here we have Sikh neighbours. It is wrong to pin such a blame on him," he said.

Shamas Udin said Sanjay Singh was present in Jammu on Wednesday, and he asked the AAP leader to do something. "I don't care about the party, I just want my son back," he said.

Malik, representing the Doda assembly constituency, was booked under PSA on Monday on grounds that his activities were prejudicial to the maintenance of public order. Preventive detention under the PSA was deemed necessary in the interest of maintaining public order and safeguarding law and order in the region.