JAMMU: In a dramatic escalation of its campaign demanding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Sunday accused the administration of suppressing democratic dissent after senior party leaders, including JK Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra and national secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir, were detained by police during a peaceful march in Jammu city.
The protest, held under the banner “Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq” (Our State, Our Right), was part of a larger mobilisation effort ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, where the INDIA bloc intends to raise the demand for statehood. The Congress had planned to submit a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the Lieutenant Governor at the Raj Bhavan.
The police, however, intervened early. As the march led by Karra and other senior leaders began near the Congress headquarters at Shaheedi Chowk, it was blocked by a heavy deployment of security forces. Despite a brief scuffle and exchanges with the police, the leaders managed to continue their march towards Residency Road, where they were again stopped, detained, and taken in buses to the district police lines. They were later released.
This was the second such protest thwarted by the administration in two days. A similar march in Srinagar on Saturday had been stopped before it could reach the Raj Bhawan. Congress leaders alleged that the party’s headquarters in Srinagar were also sealed by police to prevent mobilisations.
Karra criticised the government’s response, calling it an “undeclared emergency.” “Our peaceful call for ‘Jammu Chalo’ to demand the restoration of statehood was met with a massive show of force—barricades, locked gates, and a protest site turned into a cantonment. Is this the new normal?” he asked. “We were not on the roads to spread unrest, only to submit a memorandum. But this administration has no regard for democratic rights or civil liberties.”
Congress spokespersons alleged that Rajouri MLA Iftkhar Ahmed was manhandled during the police action. “Such behaviour towards an elected representative undermines democracy and infringes upon the right to peaceful protest,” the party said in a statement. It demanded an immediate investigation and accountability for the police conduct.
Calling out what he termed as hypocrisy, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal questioned the Prime Minister directly on social media: “Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi lie on the floor of Parliament about granting statehood to J&K? If not, why are our leaders being detained for simply demanding what was promised?”
The Congress leadership reiterated that it will go ahead with its planned ‘Delhi Chalo’ protest on Monday, coinciding with the first day of the Monsoon Session. The party plans to join forces with other INDIA bloc MPs to press for the immediate restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, which was revoked in August 2019 when Article 370 was scrapped and the region was bifurcated into two Union Territories.
“These arrests only show the government’s fear and frustration. But we will not be silenced,” said Karra, affirming that the movement for the return of statehood to J&K would continue both in the streets and in Parliament.
