Nine Opposition parties on Thursday participated in a protest organised by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, demanding the immediate release of political leaders detained in Kashmir.
“We must recognise that this is no democracy. If we fail to understand this, then we are living in a fool’s paradise,” former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
Law to nullify Article 370 was brought in through the back door. “There is something grave happening in the State, which this government is trying to hide. The media is not allowed to telecast the truth,” he said.
Invoking former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mr. Azad said that had Vajpayee been in the Prime Minister’s chair, such a thing would not have happened.
Speaking earlier, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury too invoked Vajpayee. Calling the change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir a direct assault on all pillars of the Constitution, he said that the government had forgotten the slogan given by Vajpayee, Kashmiriyat, Jamuriyat aur Insaniyat .
The parties adopted a resolution demanding “immediate release of all public representatives of mainstream political parties and innocent citizens.”
“We also demand the immediate restoration of normalcy and communications so that people can reach out to their loved ones and their family members,” it read.
The Congress, TMC, CPI(M), CPI, SP, RJD, National Conference and the MDMK, participated in the protest.
