India frees Mehbooba Mufti after more than a year in detention

Indian authorities released Mehbooba Mufti late on Tuesday, the last major Kashmiri leader held since August last year when the federal government withdrew the autonomy of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

Mufti, a former Chief Minister of the occupied state, was released late on Tuesday, government spokesperson Rohit Kansal said on Twitter. He did not give a reason for her release.

A government order seen by Reuters said Mufti’s detention under the draconian Public Safety Act, which allows for detention without trial for up to two years, was being revoked with immediate effect.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government imposed a communication blackout with mobiles phones, internet links and landlines down and detained scores of people including Mufti to prevent large scale protests from erupting over the loss of autonomy in the occupied region.

Top politicians Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, both former Chief Ministers of the state, were released earlier this year.

Mufti’s daughter had filed a habeas corpus petition in the country’s Supreme Court, challenging her mother’s detention under the Public Safety Act. The case is scheduled to come up for hearing on Thursday.