SRINAGAR: PDP leaders were not allowed to move out of their homes to attend a party meeting. The party had stated that it will meet on Thursday at his party headquarters near Polo View.
“It was public that we are meeting today and then I had told my security guards at home to convey heir higher-ups,” one of the leaders who was prevented from moving out of his home, said. “This means that we are detention.”
Party’s public relations people released a number of photographs on the WhatsApp to show how the police stopped them from moving out of their homes.
“BJP & other parties are allowed to hold meetings. But for some reason, the same freedom isn’t given to PDP. GOIs claims of setting all political leaders in J&K free is as fake as their narrative of normalcy,” Mehbooba Mufti, who is in detention under PSA and is being held at home, tweeted. “Shameful that J&K admin along with police physically prevented PDP leaders from leaving their homes in Srinagar today. They shamelessly lie to courts that these people are free to move & then have the audacity to detain them illegally at home.”
Govt should come clean on whether someone is detained or not. This heralds the new struggle. Struggle to get the Govt agree that a person is detained. https://t.co/jxJ76QlEHC
— Sajad Lone (@sajadlone) September 3, 2020
In yet another tweet, she added: “Why is PDP being discriminated against? Why are these people being detained unlawfully? Under what law is their detention justified?”
Naeem Akther, a senior party member and former Education Minister of J&K tweeted: “Despite being free on paper and in Govt submissions in HC and SC, PDP Leadership continues to be under illegal detention, without any official orders.”
Waheed Ur Rehman, party youth president tweeted: “Our story: A year of un-freedom & many claims later we were told we are free now. But when we try to attend the first party meet post-Aug 5 they told us we are under detention. The question now is how choking our space in the name of law & order is contributing to the so-called ‘peace’.” He added: “The mental toll this detention has induced in our families is not only cruel but also unconstitutional & vindictive. While other political parties are allowed to continue political activities severe restrictions are placed on us.”
In all these tweets, the PDP leaders attached photographs of the police actually stopping them from leaving their home. Though at least three persons had reached the PDP office, they were also told that they must leave.
“We had invited everybody and the agenda was primarily to discuss the situation and see if at all we are free as the government is saying,” Parra said. “Now it is clear that we are not free and whatever is being said about the political activities is not a fact. We are merely shifted from one jail to another.”
The party is now considering following the NC route. Some leaders told Kashmir Life that the only option left is to approach the court. “Now it is clear that we are not free and the only option left is to go to the court,” one leader said.
Reacting to the development of government foiling the PDP leaders meeting, party spokesperson, Mohit Bhan said, “As the political activities of other parties are resuming, we also called for the party meeting which was to be attended by all district-level leaders. However, we were disallowed.”
The spokesperson alleged that the government is witch-hunting by breaking the party into pieces by imploding it within. The government wants us to toe their line, “As we continue to speak for public issues ranging from the undemocratic, illegal abrogation of the article to its subsequent developments like illegal mining contracts being issued to disparities in bureaucracy, the government is preventing us to resume the routine activities” he added.
