Top leaders of the People’s Alliance for the Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) including three former Chief Ministers — Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti — were placed under house arrest on Saturday ahead of a scheduled joint protest against the J&K Delimitation Commission's draft proposal.
The leaders accused the Lieutenant Governor’s administration of locking up the gates and blocking entrances with armoured vehicles since early in the morning.
“Good morning and welcome to 2022. A new year with the same J&K police illegally locking people in their homes and an administration so terrified of normal democratic activity. Trucks parked outside our gates to scuttle the peaceful J&KPAGD’s sit-in,” National Conference leader Abdullah, in a tweet, said.
He said the police had even locked the internal gate connecting his house with his father’s home. “Yet our leaders have the cheek to tell the world that India is the largest democracy, hah!!”
Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre trumpets diluting Article 370 and dismembering J&K throughout the country “but is deeply paranoid and intolerant when people want to protest against its disempowerment”.
Alliance spokesman and CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said the police had closed the gates of his house “midnight”.
The administration’s move was also criticised by those political parties which are not part of the alliance, an amalgam of the regional parties fighting for restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 position.
“I can’t see any valid reason why the administration should stop political parties from protesting. Non-violent mode of protest in the context of violent strife needs to be facilitated not stifled. If you stop political, non-violent protests, what are you incentivising by default? You are incentivising and facilitating and setting the conditions for a violent form of protest,” Peoples Conference chief Sajad Lone said.
Senior Congress leader Saifuddin Soz said the decision to put all the J&K political leadership in custody is unwarranted and undemocratic. “It’s highly undemocratic and arbitrary,” he said.
Leaders of the PDP and the NC held street protests in parts of Srinagar. Two youth leaders of the PDP were also arrested.
“New Delhi needs to understand we are the real representatives of J&K and should open doors of dialogue. Coercive measures won’t yield anything,” NC youth president Salman Sagar said.
Terming the delimitation draft proposal as politically immoral and violative of constitutionally underpinned representation rules, the NC leaders said, “The party has outrightly rejected it. Such delimitation has no credibility among masses.”
The Commission had recently proposed to increase six Assembly segments in the Jammu province and one in the Kashmir province, besides reserving seats for the Scheduled Tribes for the first time ever.