Detention a common thing for politicians: Ram Madhav

In an exclusive interview to India Today TV, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and in-charge for J&K Ram Madhav said that restrictions imposed in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), including the detention of former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, is nothing new.

He said this a day after the Rajya Sabha passed a bill that revokes the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution. The bill also bifurcated the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union territories--Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir.

He said these restrictions are not new to the Kashmir Valley as similar restrictions were imposed in the past, not just by the NDA government, but by other governments as well.

Asked why former J&K chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah have been detained, Ram Madhav said their detention is a "preventive measure".