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‘Sab kuch luta ke…’: Owaisi's poetic jibe on J&K CM Omar Abdullah over PSA removal remark
AIMIM chief noted that consecutive governments in the erstwhile state failed to revoke the act implemented in 1978.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi took a jibe on J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah as he demanded the restoration of statehood to remove the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA).
Asaduddin Owaisi's charged up attack on Omar Abdullah came after the latter said that his government would remove the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) through an ordinance. “To remove it, we must have statehood. Security, law and order, all these things should be under the control of the elected government. The day these things are ours, I won't even wait for the assembly session,” he said.
“We said in the manifesto that we would remove the Public Safety and Security Act (PSA) from Jammu and Kashmir,” Omar Abdullah told media at a gathering in Srinagar on Saturday.
What Owaisi said
Asaduddin Owaisi reminded Omar Abdullah that PSA was introduced by Sheikh Abdullah, his grandfather and a key figure in the politics of Jammu & Kashmir, to tackle smuggling in the erstwhile state.
Owaisi said that repeated governments in J&K used to the act against separatist leaders and over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978 under PSA.
“They could have easily repealed PSA & prevented untold suffering and human rights violations,” Owaisi wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, adding that the law has been misused by almost all chief ministers and governors in J&K.
“Some detentions were extended for up to 7-12 years. One separatist was detained under the PSA and, when he was later needed, he was served with a court warrant and granted bail,” Hyderabad leader wrote.
Owaisi concluded the post with a poetic jibe, writing, "Sab kuch luta ke hosh mein aaye to kya kiya… Din mein agar chiragh jalaye to kya kiya".
The controversial PSA
Under the PSA, authorities can detain an individual for upto two years without trial. Initially introduced to tackle timber smuggling in 1978, the law was in the later years used to detain political leaders and individuals considered threat to law and order, particularly in the backdrop of militancy in Kashmir in early 1990s.
One of the latest detentions under PSA includes Aam Aadmi Party MLA Mehraj Malik who is lodged in Kathua district jail since September 8, 2025 for allegedly disturbing public order in Doda district and allegedly using foul language against the district’s deputy commissioner.
