Jammu, Sep 10: AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Wednesday joined protests in Jammu over the detention of the party’s Doda MLA, Mehraj Malik, under the Public Safety Act (PSA). Singh accused the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to “crush” the Aam Aadmi Party wherever its presence grows.
Addressing reporters, Singh condemned Malik’s detention as illegal and unconstitutional, highlighting that no MLA in Jammu and Kashmir’s history has been subjected to PSA.
“The BJP and the prime minister do only one thing — wherever the AAP progresses, they try to suppress it. Filing false cases and imprisoning our leaders is their method,” Singh said, citing examples including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendar Jain, and now Mehraj Malik.
Singh, accompanied by senior party functionary Imran Hussain, alleged that the BJP orchestrates conspiracies against AAP, branding dissenters as criminals or worse. He accused the administration of deliberately creating law and order issues in Doda.
He further claimed that Malik’s PSA detention was due to his demand for better healthcare facilities in the region.
“They are saying he is a threat to public safety. What kind of joke is this — a person demanding better hospital facilities is labelled a threat?” Singh said, criticising the dossier prepared against Malik as “baseless allegations.”
Singh asserted that the AAP will fight this “unlawful act” through street protests, Parliament, and the courts, stating:
“Arvind Kejriwal has announced we will continue this fight until justice is delivered. We are not the kind of people who remain silent.”
He also addressed broader issues, including administrative abuses, governance challenges in Jammu and Kashmir, and public grievances in Nepal, emphasizing that democratic governments must respond to citizen concerns without resorting to force. On internal party matters like cross-voting in the Vice Presidential election, Singh noted that investigations will be conducted and appropriate action taken.
On flood relief packages, Singh criticised the Rs 1,600-crore allocation for Punjab as insufficient, calling it “step-motherly treatment” toward the state.