Lok Sabha MP and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah will on Monday attend Parliament for the first time since the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.
Farooq, who represents the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency, was among more than 50 politicians in Jammu and Kashmir who were taken into custody after the revocation of Article 370.
He was detained in his home at Gupkar Road in Srinagar.
Although his daughter, Saffiya Abdullah, and sister, Suriya Abdullah, were allowed to visit him regularly, his wife, Molly Abdullah, flew to Kashmir from London to look after him.
Farooq’s detention was challenged in the Supreme Court by his friend DMK leader Vaiko and daughter, Sara Pilot, wife of Congress leader Sachin Pilot, in the Supreme Court. But the government defended his detention, citing his ability to mobilise crowds that could threaten law and order in Kashmir.
The 83-year-old politician was set free in March after the government quashed his detention under the Public Safety Act (PSA).
The senior politician reached Delhi on Sunday to attend the monsoon session of Parliament.
The NC president is expected to receive a warm welcome from the opposition, which had repeatedly demanded his release when he was in detention.
Many people, especially the supporters of the NC, are hopeful that Farooq will raise the issue of issue of Article 370 revocation and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.
The NC president has said that he doesn’t expect anything from the Parliament on Jammu and Kashmir and has pinned all hopes on the Supreme Court where the revocation of Article 370 has been challenged by the NC and other parties.
The NC president recently chaired a meeting of seven parties in Srinagar in which the participants resolved not to accept the revocation of Article 370 and splitting of Jammu and Kashmir.
The seven parties were signatories to the famous Gupkar Declaration on August 4, 2019, that said any attempt to remove Article 370 and change the status of Jammu and Kashmir was unacceptable and would be deemed as aggression against the people of Jammu and Kashmir.