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India Frees Top Kashmiri Leader

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - A former chief minister in Indian Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti,
   vowed to continue a struggle for restoration of the region's autonomy
   on her release from detention by Indian authorities after 14 months.

   Mufti was placed under house arrest last August after India's Hindu
   nationalist government scrapped Kashmir's decades-long partial autonomy
   -- a move that triggered widespread anger in its only Muslim-majority
   region.

   Mufti was among several top Kashmiri leaders held under a tough law
   that allows for detention without trial for up to two years -- she is
   the last mainstream political leader to be freed.

   The government has said that politicians and activists were detained to
   contain unrest and maintain law and order in the restive region where
   India has struggled to control a violent Islamic separatist insurgency
   for over three decades.

   Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said scrapping Kashmir's special
   status would help integrate it more closely with the rest of India and
   spur its development.

   After being freed late Tuesday, Mufti called it a "black decision."

   "None of us can forget the insult and humiliation we faced on that day.
   And we all have to pledge that we will take back what was snatched
   illegally, undemocratically and unconstitutionally on 5 August last
   year," she tweeted in an audio message. "We will also have to work for
   the resolution of Kashmir issue for which thousands of people have laid
   down their lives."

   She called for the release of those still in detention -- hundreds of
   activists, local businessmen and local party workers are believed to
   still be in custody.

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