SRINAGAR: J&K Peoples Conference chief and Handwara MLA, Sajad Gani Lone, Sunday endorsed AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s criticism of chief minister Omar Abdullah’s statement that he doesn’t have sufficient power to repeal Public Safety Act (PSA).”It is for the first time that someone from the rest of the country has called a spade a spade,” Lone said echoing Owaisi’s allegation that “draconian PSA has been misused with impunity by all Kashmiri CMs and governors.”On Saturday, Abdullah said his party’s manifesto promised to repeal PSA. “But to remove it law and order and security should be under the elected govt. The day we have both, I will not even wait for the assembly session to repeal the law; I will issue an ordinance to scrap it,” he said.Reacting to the CM’s statement, Owaisi said, “PSA was introduced by then CM Sheikh Abdullah in 1978 to deal with smuggling. The law has been misused by virtually every elected CM and unelected governor. Over 20,000 people have been jailed since 1978 without criminal charges, fair trials or even a proper appeals process. Some detentions were extended for up to 7-12 years.”
