Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha's administration imposed curfew-like restrictions in Doda district on Wednesday following violent overnight clashes between protesters and security forces over the detention of AAP MLA Mehraj Malik under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).
The anti-government protests in Doda and some other areas in Jammu's Chenab Valley are the biggest since the 2019 scrapping of Article 370. Though the restrictions helped restore calm in Doda, there were reports of protests in the adjoining Kishtwar district on Wednesday.
The administration's decision to slap the PSA on Malik has been widely condemned, with chief minister Omar Abdullah and his party coming to the defence of the jailed MLA. Omar had on Tuesday said that such incidents weakened people's faith in democracy.
The AAP on Wednesday fielded MP Sanjay Singh and other leaders to express solidarity with Malik.
Singh said the slapping of the PSA against Malik was illegal and unconstitutional. "It is an attempt to silence the voice of an elected member. Slapping the PSA is 100 per cent wrong,” he told reporters in Jammu. "A section used against terrorists has been slapped on an elected member for raising his voice for the people of his constituency. It is wrong.”
Singh said they would fight this "injustice on the streets, in Parliament, and, if necessary, in the Supreme Court".
NC president Farooq Abdullah held the LG's administration responsible for the tense situation in the Chenab Valley. "The police are with the LG. He is responsible for it (situation). Whatever happens there, he will have to take responsibility," Farooq told reporters.
PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the LG's administration of booking Malik under the PSA to divert attention from the Hazratbal emblem vandalism row.
Locals in Doda said tough restrictions were placed to prevent any protests. "There were massive clashes last evening, after which restrictions banning any assembly of four or more people were imposed. But the government disallowed any movement of people altogether and prevented people from opening shops and other businesses," a local said. "There is an undeclared curfew here."