The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday did not allow several People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leaders to leave their homes for attending a party meeting here, its spokesman said.
It was for the first time since the abrogation of Article 370 in August last year that the PDP had called the meeting of its senior office bearers and leaders at its party headquarters here .
Many senior leaders, including PDP general secretary GN Hanjura, former education minister Naeem Akhtar, former legislator Ajaz Mir and former MLC Khurshi Alam were not allowed to move out of their homes by the police.
“Despite being free on paper and in government submissions in high court and Supreme Court, PDP leadership continues to be under illegal detention, without any official orders. I wasn’t allowed to attend the PDP meeting nor were any of my colleagues, “Akhtar wrote on Twitter, while sharing a video of how he was stopped by the police.
“Show us some order ... Or at least allow me to go on foot,” he pleads in the video to the policemen who respond saying there is no permission.
PDP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said they had to cancel the meeting when most of their leaders were not allowed to move out of their homes. “They did not allow around 20 of our leaders and members to move out of homes saying that we are under house arrest. We told them to show us some orders or give us something in writing because recently they told the court that no one is under detention in Kashmir,” Hanjura said.
{{/usCountry}}PDP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said they had to cancel the meeting when most of their leaders were not allowed to move out of their homes. “They did not allow around 20 of our leaders and members to move out of homes saying that we are under house arrest. We told them to show us some orders or give us something in writing because recently they told the court that no one is under detention in Kashmir,” Hanjura said.
{{/usCountry}}He said they had written a letter to divisional commissioner and police top brass about four days ago informing about the meeting and seeking permission, however, they got no response from the authorities. “These are double standards of the government. In the high court and Supreme Court they said that nobody is under detention but on ground they are targeting a particular political party,” he said.
The twitter handle of incarcerated PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, handled by her daughter Iltija Mufti, tweeted a number of videos showing the leaders being stopped from leaving their residences. “Shameful that J&K administration along with police physically prevented PDP leaders from leaving their homes in Srinagar. They shamelessly lie to courts that these people are free to move and then have the audacity to detain them illegally at home, “ Iltija wrote on Twitter. “BJP & other parties are allowed to hold meetings. But for some reason, the same freedom isn’t given to PDP. GOIs claims of setting all political leaders in J&K free is as fake as their narrative of normalcy,” she tweeted.
Calls to Kashmir divisional commissioner Pandurang K Pole and inspector general of police Vijay Kumar did not elicit any response.
Political parties lash out at govt
“The government should come clean on whether someone is detained or not. This heralds the new struggle. Struggle to get the government to agree that a person is detained,” said People’s Conference leader Sajad Lone said.
CPIM leader MY Tarigami condemned the police action to disallow PDP leaders from moving out of their houses for the party meeting. It has once again exposed the “hollow claims” of the BJP government about normalcy in Kashmir, he said. “Not allowing political leaders to attend their party meetings will have debilitating effects on democratic process and amounts to further squeezing of democratic space,” he said.
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) senior leader Mohammad Dilawar Mir termed the police action as highly condemnable and undemocratic. “Rather than imposing autocratic decisions the government should facilitate an early resumption of the political process in J&K which has already received a huge dent since last year,” Mir said.