Why PSA against Abdullah now ?

New Delhi : Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Tuesday hit out at the BJP over the detention of Farooq Abdullah under the Public Safety Act and questioned whether the step was prompted by MDMK chief Vaiko's plea in the Supreme Court seeking a directive that the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister be produced before it.

Abdullah has now been detained under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA), which enables authorities to detain any individual for two years without trial.

The 81-year-old patron of the National Conference has been under house arrest since August 5 when the Centre announced abrogation of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcation of the state into Union territories.

"Now PSA (43 days later).Earlier BJP said 92% of people in J&K welcome dilution of Article 370; that normalcy prevails. Then Amit Shah in Parliament: Farooq Abdullah neither detained nor arrested," Sibal said in a tweet.

"If no danger to public safety then, why now?

Abdullah, will be confined to a single room in his multi-storey house located on Srinagars high-profile Gupkar Road, hours after Deputy Commissioner, Srinagar, Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, approved his detention under the PSA.

The government is trying to "remove nationalist leaders like Farooq Abdullah" to create a political vacuum that will be filled by terrorists, Rahul Gandhi said , targeting the government for the veteran Jammu and Kashmir leader's detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).