Srinagar: Authorities curtailed high speed internet in parts of Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday (September 9) amid apprehensions of protests against the detention of the Aam Aadmi Party legislator Mehraj-ud-Din Malik under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA).Tensions are on the rise in J&K against Malik’s detention, with major political parties in Kashmir including the ruling National Conference (NC) led by chief minister Omar Abdullah and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party and others demanding his release.J&K’s home department hasn’t published any order so far about the internet restrictions in Doda despite the Supreme Court guidelines requiring official publication of such orders for legal review.The official website of the Union Territory’s home department, which is under the lieutenant governor, was last updated on August 15, when mobile internet was restricted in parts of central Kashmir’s Budgam district.ProtestsSome locals from Doda who spoke to The Wire said that they were unable to access video streaming platforms such as YouTube and Instagram since Monday night following Mehraj’s preventive detention. However, smartphone users were still able to send text messages on WhatsApp.Some of Malik’s supporters who had issued call for protests against the AAP leader’s detention – including Owais Chaudhary, a resident of Bhaderwah, and Sheikh Zafrullah, a district development council member from Marwah – were also detained by the police, while a few others were unreachable via phone, amid apprehensions of their detention. However, these detentions were not confirmed by the administration.Security has been beefed up in Doda district where massive protests broke out against Malik’s detention in parts of Gandoh, Kahara, Bhalessa and other AAP strongholds on Tuesday. Shouting slogans against the Doda deputy commissioner (DC) Harvinder Singh, the protesters demanded the release of the AAP leader.Syed Mohsin, a social activist, who was part of a peaceful protest in Kahara on Tuesday, said that Malik’s detention was a betrayal of the democratic mandate of people who voted for him.“A black law [PSA] has been used to trample on democracy. It seems like a well-planned conspiracy to orphan our constituency and deprive us of our voice. We demand that he should be set free immediately,” Mohsin said, as dozens of protesters raised slogans against Malik’s detention.Security personnel in riot gear were deployed on Tuesday morning at his home village of Taindla in santicipation of protests. Shops and other business establishments were closed. Witnesses said that heavy security deployment was also visible in other parts of the district.Sporadic protests against Malik’s detention were also reported from other parts of Jammu and Kashmir.According to reports, Malik was shifted from Bhaderwah jail in Kishtwar district, where he was initially lodged, to Kathua jail amid tight security arrangements on Tuesday morning. Citing more than 18 FIRs and daily dairy reports, the administration has detained him under the PSA for one year, even though he has not been convicted in any of the cases.Run up to the arrestA postgraduate in political science from the University of Jammu who joined politics in 2013, Malik was dragged by policemen under full camera gaze and hauled into a van near Dak Bungalow in Doda after he tried to resist his detention.Before being whisked away, Malik, who was elected as AAP’s J&K president following his victory in the 2024 assembly election from Doda East constituency, spoke with the media and urged his supporters to enforce a shutdown.In the run up to his detention, the AAP MLA, who resorted to unsavoury remarks against the Doda DC, accusing him of corruption and vested interests, warned that the administration should be held responsible in case of any law and order problem. The administration has refused Malik’s allegations.The PSA dossier of the AAP leader has not been made public yet. A close aide of Malik told The Wire that some of his associates and lawyers were on the way to Kathua to meet him in jail today.“We will challenge the (detention) order (under the PSA) in the high court,” Malik’s aide said.Elected government’s agency under shadowThe detention of the AAP lawmaker has once again brought the limited powers of Jammu and Kashmir’s elected government under a spotlight. When J&K was a state, the administration had to seek the consent of the J&K assembly before arresting any elected legislator.However, after J&K was downgraded to a Union Territory, the administration only has to inform the assembly speaker about punitive action against any lawmaker under sections 258 and 259 of the rules of the procedures and conduct of business of the state assembly in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.In a letter to the speaker, deputy commissioner, Doda alleged on Monday that the AAP legislator “posed a grave threat to peace, public order and tranquility” in Doda district and “his activities (were) prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”.“Preventive detention under the PSA was, therefore, found necessary in the interest of maintaining public order and safeguarding law and order in the region. The intimation is being submitted for your kind information and record, as required,” the letter states.Besides the regional political parties in Kashmir, AAP chief and former chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Lok Sabha members Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and Asaduddin Owaisi among others condemned Malik’s detention under PSA.