‘He is lying’, says Farooq Abdullah on Home minister’s statement in Parliament

Tribune Web Service

Chandigarh, August 6

Hours after Home minister Amit Shah told the Parliament that the National Conference patriarch Farooq Abdullah had not been detained or arrested, the former Chief Minister hit back accusing him of lying. 

 "I was detained in my house... I feel sad that Home Minister can lie like this," the 81-year-old told the NDTV. The former Chief Minister fumed that he had a ` a big padlock on my home’ and had countered the security personnel on why he wasn’t being allowed out. ``I told them if the Home minister has said that I wasn’t detained, why I wasn’t being allowed to move out.’’ he said.

During the debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill in the Lok Sabha, Amit Shah had said Farooq Abdullah has neither been detained nor arrested. When Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule pointed out the veteran leader's absence, Amit Shah, who introduced the bill in the lower house, said: "He has neither been detained nor arrested. He is at home by his own will."

Former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, who were initially placed under house arrest, were formally arrested yesterday. The state government is yet to make a statement on when the two leaders would be let off.

 Talking to the media the former Chief minister accused the Modi government of using devious methods to take over the state. "They divided regions, will they divide hearts too? Will they divide Hindus and Muslims? I thought my India was for all, everyone who believes in secular, unity," he said.