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Nothing Wrong In Release Of Masrat Alam, Says J&K CM's Daughter

Nothing Wrong In Release Of Masrat Alam, Says JK CM's Daughter
Kashmir's People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti addresses a press conference on the execution of Kashmiri separatist, Mohammed Afzal Guru, in Srinagar on February 10, 2013. Mufti condemned the hanging of Muhammad Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim who was convicted of involvement in a deadly 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, in New Delhi's Tihar jail where he had been lodged for more than 10 years. AFP PHOTO/Rouf BHAT (Photo credit should read ROUF BHAT/AFP/Getty Images)
ROUF BHAT via Getty Images
Kashmir's People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti addresses a press conference on the execution of Kashmiri separatist, Mohammed Afzal Guru, in Srinagar on February 10, 2013. Mufti condemned the hanging of Muhammad Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim who was convicted of involvement in a deadly 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, in New Delhi's Tihar jail where he had been lodged for more than 10 years. AFP PHOTO/Rouf BHAT (Photo credit should read ROUF BHAT/AFP/Getty Images)

New Delhi — There was "nothing wrong" in the release of hardcore separatist Masrat Alam, PDP President Mehbooba Mufti today said maintaining he never used a gun and was a product of the 2010 stone-pelting unrest which he had spearheaded.

She said the Jammu and Kashmir government headed by her father Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was only upholding a Supreme Court order by freeing the separatist. Alam's release last week had rocked Parliament and prompted Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare that it was "unacceptable".

"Nothing wrong," she said at the India Today Conclave when asked if she thinks Alam's release was wrong, a development which has strained PDP's ties with coalition partner BJP.

"If upholding the direction of the Supreme Court is wrong, then what do we do?... You are trying to subvert your own Supreme Court when it comes to Kashmir. How can you do that?," she wondered, referring to a court direction that Alam could be further detained only if there are fresh grounds for doing so.

The combative PDP leader, who asserted that PDP-BJP alliance was driven by the mandate, said there should not be "double standards" over court judgements.

"You pick up number 28 on the list and hang Afzal Guru and say it's SC judgement but when the same SC says release Alam who is being held without charge you question it," she said.

"I wish when Masrat Alam was released that people should have been debating how the Supreme Court has evolved to the extent... that it has given a judgement entirely contrary to what is the security mindset in the country.

"Masrat Alam would not acknowledge it but I am sure he in his heart of hearts or people around him would be talking 'Oh God, this is the Indian Supreme Court," she said.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.