We are not criminals: Farooq Abdullah on his detention

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shared a letter from National Conference president Farooq Abdullah in which he has criticised the Modi government for not allowing him to attend the winter session on Parliament.

“We are not criminals,” Abdullah said in response to a letter written by Tharoor which he claimed was delivered to him after more than a month.

Abdullah has written the letter to Tharoor on his personal letterhead which mentions his residence in Srinagar as “sub-jail”.

Abdullah has been under detention since August 5 and was booked under the Public Safety Act (PSA) on September 17 and confined to his Gupkar Road residence which has been declared as a sub-jail.

Tharoor had written a letter to Abdullah on October 21 which was delivered to him on December 2.

He said the October 21 letter was delivered to him on December 2 by the magistrate who looks after him in the sub-jail.

“It is most unfortunate that they are not able to deliver me my post in time. I am sure this is not the way to treat a senior Member of the Parliament and leader of a political party. We are not criminals,” Abdullah wrote in his reply, which was shared by Tharoor on his Twitter handle.

Tharoor said parliamentarians should be allowed to allowed to attend “the session as a matter of parliamentary privilege”.

“Otherwise the tool of arrest can be used to muzzle opposition voices. Participation in Parliament is essential for democracy and popular sovereignty,” Tharoor said.