DMK MPs will hold a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on August 22 demanding the immediate release of Jammu and Kashmir leaders, who were detained by the Centre prior to the abrogation of Article 370.
Chennai:
The protest called for by the third largest party in the Lok Sabha would be the first major offensive by an Opposition party against the ruling BJP since the withdrawal of special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement announcing the agitation, Stalin on Monday also invited allies and like-minded parties believing in democracy to join the protest. “While campaigning through friendly media that peace is returning (to Kashmir), the Centre has been placing leaders there under house arrest since August 5,” Stalin said, condemning the Union government for enforcing an undeclared emergency in Kashmir by suspending telecommunication services.
Accusing the ruling BJP of snatching away the fundamental rights of National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti by keeping them under house arrest for 14 days till now, the DMK president said the BJP regime at the Centre has isolated Kashmir, which is a part of India since 1947, by imposing curfew and through oppression.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah seem not be concerned about the plight of the Kashmiri people and their struggle to return to normalcy,” Stalin who is also the Leader of Opposition opined, adding that the BJP leaders were engaging in a kind of politics by holding meetings across the country, trumpeting to have achieved something in Kashmir after murdering democracy there. BJP’s lack of faith in the Constitution and democracy was evident from the party turning Kashmir into an international issue while blindly implementing its ideology, Stalin added.
The DMK, which was among the few opposition parties to oppose the scrapping of article 370, had strongly voiced against the move in the Parliament.
The protest at Jantar Mantar, which was the epicenter of regime-changing civil and political movements in the past, could put DMK chief MK Stalin in a prime position in the national political map given that no party in the Opposition ranks has come forward to take on the BJP on the sensitive Kashmir issue thus far.
The protest called for by the third largest party in the Lok Sabha would be the first major offensive by an Opposition party against the ruling BJP since the withdrawal of special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir.
In a statement announcing the agitation, Stalin on Monday also invited allies and like-minded parties believing in democracy to join the protest. “While campaigning through friendly media that peace is returning (to Kashmir), the Centre has been placing leaders there under house arrest since August 5,” Stalin said, condemning the Union government for enforcing an undeclared emergency in Kashmir by suspending telecommunication services.
Accusing the ruling BJP of snatching away the fundamental rights of National Conference leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti by keeping them under house arrest for 14 days till now, the DMK president said the BJP regime at the Centre has isolated Kashmir, which is a part of India since 1947, by imposing curfew and through oppression.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah seem not be concerned about the plight of the Kashmiri people and their struggle to return to normalcy,” Stalin who is also the Leader of Opposition opined, adding that the BJP leaders were engaging in a kind of politics by holding meetings across the country, trumpeting to have achieved something in Kashmir after murdering democracy there. BJP’s lack of faith in the Constitution and democracy was evident from the party turning Kashmir into an international issue while blindly implementing its ideology, Stalin added.
The DMK, which was among the few opposition parties to oppose the scrapping of article 370, had strongly voiced against the move in the Parliament.