Through a WhatsApp group, the seven mobilised Wednesday morning to oppose an 11 am public meeting and march organised by Left parties (Express photo)Ashutosh Srivastav, Sudhir Pandey and Himanshu Trivedi were among seven men encircled in a sea of khaki on Barakhamba Road. “We are here to defend Bharat Mata, the government and the President,” said Trivedi, who said he was a student. Through a WhatsApp group, the seven mobilised Wednesday morning to oppose an 11 am public meeting and march organised by Left parties — CPI, CPM and CPI(ML) — to protest the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370 and 35A and the bifurcation of J&K.
Police said around 600 people marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar as part of the protest. “We are all here for different reasons,” said Mary Thingon, an MA student from Manipur studying at DU. “Part of it is to make sure people realise it could be any state tomorrow — the Northeast is particularly vulnerable as we too have ‘special status’.”
(Express photo)CPI general secretary D Raja said BJP’s majority in Parliament is no justification for its recent moves on Kashmir. “This is about constitutional morality and fighting authoritarianism. We (Left) fought the British… we will fight the Hindu fundamentalists too.”
CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat said the support for abrogation of Kashmir’s special status across party lines was a misreading of public sentiment. “Hindutva is not India. BJP has just amplified the voice of a vocal section of its base and through propaganda, convinced or confused people. How long can you keep 40,000 troops in Kashmir? Once constitutional rights are restored, more voices will come out.”
(Express photo)Economist and former member of UPA government’s National Advisory Council, Jean Dreze, handed out pamphlets comparing economic indicators of J&K and Gujarat. “While Gujarat has 22% of its population living below the poverty line, the figure is just 12% for Kashmir,” said Dreze. “It is because of Article 370 that J&K is an economic success. It allowed the state to implement land reforms on a large scale without compensating landlords, which would have made the programme impossible.”
Across the road, the seven protesters against the march remained resolute. “We know why we are here. They have the right to protest, but we will not allow any desh virodhi (anti-national) sentiments. Each of us has a Tiranga (tricolour). Do you see even one over there?”
