The Home Ministry of India dispatched over 100 Companies of Para Military forces to Jammu and Kashmir yesterday night. This included 45 companies of the CRPF, 35 of the BSF and ten each of the 10 SSB, and the ITBP.
The security build up coincided with arrests of top JKLF and Jamaat-e-Islami cadres including the JKLF head Yasin Malik. The charges for the detentions have not been made public. Ex Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti criticized the move as unlawful.
In the past 24 hours, Hurriyat leaders & workers of Jamaat organisation have been arrested. Fail to understand such an arbitrary move which will only precipitate matters in J&K. Under what legal grounds are their arrests justified? You can imprison a person but not his ideas.
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 23, 2019
Jamaat-e-Islami pointed to the arrests and crack down to Supreme Court’s hearing of case on Article 35(A) which grants special status to the state, the spokesman for the organization said “Something seems fishy at this moment when states special position is listed in Supreme Court. Article 35(A) which grants special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir is being heard within days and the way forces personnel unleashed the spree of mass arrest and detained dozens of Jama’at members prior to the hearing seems something is hatching behind the curtains.”
Post Pulwama attack on 14th Feb 2019 all forces in Kashmir have been on high alert. Amid the Sabre rattling by New Delhi and Islamabad, Pakistan’s armed forces have gone public with a defensive stance while Indian leadership has declared every intent to punish Pakistani elements involved in the attack.
