Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that the Opposition did not get an opportunity to raise the issue of National Conference (NC) member Farooq Abdullah's release from house arrest and his presence in the Parliament in the Lok Sabha.
"When the Opposition tried to raise the issue that we are starting the Parliament session even when one of us, Farooq Abdullah, is not even there because he has been arrested. We were not even given the opportunity to raise the issue. So we had to raise our voice," Tharoor told news agency ANI.
He said that Abdullah is put under house arrest through an executive order and government can revoke it whenever it wants. "If the government wants, they can release him within one hour. So we have urged the Speaker to apprise the government on this issue," he said.
The NC will relentlessly work for the release of its party president Farooq Abdullah from detention so that he can participate in the ongoing Parliament session. This was stated by National Conference MP from Anantnag and former Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Hasnain Masoodi in an interview to IANS.
Farooq, Omar, Mehbooba under house arrest
Farooq Abdullah is one of the several mainstream politicians, including his son and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, who have been detained since August 5 after the abrogation of Article 370 which conferred a special status on the former state.
Opposition members in Lok Sabha sought the presence of Abdullah as Speaker Om Birla informed them he has written information that he was in custody.
Members of Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress were among those who urged the Speaker to ensure the presence of Abdullah. They came to the well of the House and raised slogans in favour of their demands which included the release of Abdullah. Also, NCP members supported them.
