The Jammu and Kashmir administration allowed a team of National Conference (NC) leaders to meet former Chief Ministers and father-son duo Farooq and Omar Abdullah on Sunday in Srinagar.
Provincial President Devender Singh Rana left Jammu by an IndiGo flight early Sunday for the meeting. Former NC legislators are also part of the delegation. Rana had requested Governor Satya Pal Malik for the permission. The delegation consisted of 15 members.
"We are happy that they are both well and in high spirits, of course they are pained by the developments in the state. If the political process has to start then mainstream leaders have to be released," Rana said after the meeting.
Though the delegation officially maintains, the point of discussion was restricted to the prevailing situation in Kashmir, following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on August 5; it is widely believed, the upcoming block development council (BDC) election was also the focus.
The ministers were under detention since August 5, after New Delhi abrogated the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir through Article 370.
Farooq Abdullah was further arrested in September under the draconian Public Safety Act (PSA), which allows detention for up to two years without a trial. The National Conference leader's house was declared as a Subsidiary jail.
The move to detain the J&K leader was made a day before the SC was set to hear Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) leader Vaiko's plea, which sought Abdullah's production before the court.
The Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Centre, based on Vaiko's habeas corpus petition.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had told the Parliament on August 6 that the NC leader was neither detained nor arrested. He had said that Abdullah was in J&K on his free will.
