The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Wednesday allowed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to hold a youth leaders’ meeting in Srinagar, the first since the revocation of J&K’s special status .
“We had applied for permission. We were allowed to hold the meeting. However, with a rider that no other activity will be allowed”, PDP youth president Waheed-ur-Rehman Para told The Hindu .
It’s the first political meeting of the PDP allowed by the administration since August 5 last year. On September 3 this year, senior PDP leaders were disallowed from leaving their residences to attend a scheduled party meeting.
The meeting, also chaired by ex-MLA Ajaz Ahmad Mir, passed a joint resolution.
“We reject the undemocratic treatment imposed on us by the ruling regime, which denies the political problem existing on the ground. Our voices have been ignored and our institutions erased. We cannot afford to remain silent any longer. We need to speak now to restore our dignity and take charge of our own destinies”, the resolution said.
‘Thought policing’
Mr. Parra said J&K was witnessing “the worst kind of thought policing happening in Kashmir”.
“Youngsters, especially students, are being summoned for their opinion expressed online. There is an attack on the online space and expression by the cyber police”, he added.
The resolution also called upon the administration to release all political prisoners, including party president Mehbooba Mufti , jailed since August 5 last year.
“Too many of our mothers and sisters have been rendered widows. Too many of our children have been lost. Too many of our students are staring ahead at bleak futures. There’s unending insecurity among the young people with the fresh fears of demographic change, assaults on jobs, land rights, culture and language”, the resolution added.
