Journalism of Courage
Continuing with its revolving-door detention practice vis a vis separatist leader Masarat Alam, the Jammu and Kashmir government once again booked him under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
On Thursday, the Jammu District Magistrate slapped the PSA against Alam after which he was shifted to Jammu’s Kotbalwal Jail.
This is Alam’s 16th detention under PSA in the past eight years, most of which he has spent behind bars, and his second consecutive detention under PSA since his re-arrest in April this year.
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Last week, the J&K High Court had quashed the PSA slapped against Alam, terming it undemocratic. Following the court order, Alam was released from jail but was immediately arrested within the jail premises in Jammu.
Alam’s release for a brief period in March had caused a political storm and pitted coalition partners BJP and the PDP in the state against each other.
Alam, who for the first time came into limelight in 2007 for organising a massive rally for Syed Ali Shah Geelani in the old city that was seen as the bastion of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, was released by the Mufti government barely 13 days after coming to power.
Since 2007, Alam has spent most of his time in jail with barely a few months that he has spent as a free man.
