Day after release, Farooq Abdullah meets incarcerated son in sub-jail

A day after his release, National Conference (NC) President and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah met his incarcerated son Omar Abdullah and Congress leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Saturday.

Released on Friday after his detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked, Abdullah drove from his Gupkar residence to nearby Hari Nivas Palace where his son, also a former chief minister, has been detained under the PSA.

A senior official said octogenarian Abdullah had requested the Jammu and Kashmir administration for permission to see his son for the first time in more than seven months and the same was granted. “The two warmly embrace each other and were together for about an hour,” he said.

Later, Azad called on Abdullah at his residence, where the two leaders discussed the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of the special status of the erstwhile state under Article 370 last August, sources told DH.

On Friday immediately after his release Abdullah, a three-time former chief minister of J&K visited his father Sheikh Abdullah’s grave, located on the banks of the Dal Lake at Hazratbal here. Accompanied by his British born wife Moile, grandson Adeem and other members of the family, he offered prayers at the grave of his father and spent some time there.

Farooq Abdullah, Omar and other leaders, including another chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, were detained on August 5 last year, the day the Centre withdrew special status of the erstwhile state.

Soon after his release, Abdullah had said he won’t issue any political statement till all detained political leaders are released and that his “freedom will remain incomplete till then.”