The detention of a veteran Kashmiri parliamentarian and former chief minister under a controversial law has generated heated debate in India.

Farooq Abdullah is now detained under the Public Safety Act (PSA), which among other things, allows detention without formal charge for two years.

He had previously been under house arrest along with other leaders ahead of a move to strip Kashmir of its special status in August.

His detention has been criticised.

Many, including veteran journalists and politicians, have condemned the move as “draconian” and argued that it sets a dangerous precedent.

Farooq Abdullah, 83, with transplanted kidneys, detained under PSA…can be held without trial for 2 yrs…

How mindless can it get…

And you know what: in 1994, he was in Rao Govt’s all-star team under Vajpayee, fighting and winning India’s case at UNHRC in Geneva

End of Twitter post by @ShekharGupta

“If an 81-year-old politician is seen as a threat to public safety then it flies in the face of the government claim that the situation in the Kashmir valley is returning to normal,” senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai said in a television programme that is being widely shared on social media.

The leader of the the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPIM) Sitaram Yechury called the decision a “cowardly afterthought” and said that Mr Abdullah had “supported India through thick and thin”. Salman Khurshid, a leader with the main opposition Congress party, said that Mr Abdullah had “upheld the unity and integrity” of India.

Regional politician MK Stalin tweeted that the move was “excessive, arbitrary and unlawful”.

I am deeply concerned about the detention of former J&K Chief Minister and Member of Parliament, Dr Farooq Abdullah under Public Safety Act.

The act of placing one of the seniormost political leaders in a jail within a jail is excessive, arbitrary and unlawful. pic.twitter.com/Hv89BC6Lod

End of Twitter post by @mkstalin

The announcement that Mr Abdullah would now be detained under the PSA came hours after a regional politician from the southern state of Tamil Nadu, Vaiko, filed an application in the Supreme Court, asking for Mr Abdullah to be produced before the court.

He had said that there were “competing claims” about where Mr Abdullah – a member of India’s upper house of parliament – was.

The court, in turn, asked the government to respond by 30 September.

Earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah had told parliament that Mr Abdullah was “not detained”. He was responding to criticism that the government had not followed procedure in informing parliament about the arrest of a member of the house beforehand.

Correspondents say the decision to detain Mr Abdullah could well be an attempt to pre-empt any court decision compelling the government to release him even for a few days, as this could be used as a precedent to release other people currently under detention.

The government is believed to have detained thousands of people including activists, local politicians and businessmen. Many have been shifted to jails in cities outside the region.

However, there has been some social media support for the government’s decision as well.

Life coming a full cycle for all rascals- karma catching up. Chidambaram being tried under his own PLACE act & Farooq Abdullah being confined under his father's Public Safety act. More to come.

End of Twitter post by @54_sundar

Despite professing nationalism and 'Kashmiriyat',the same Farooq Abdullah could never bring himself to prosecute the terrorists responsible for crimes against humanity in Kashmir.The "liberal" "intellectuals" who shill for the likes of the Abdullahs and the Muftis are A1 bigots.

End of Twitter post by @copylefft

The government has not made any public statement regarding the order to detain Mr Abdullah under the PSA.

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