A joint statement by senior opposition leaders, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, demanded immediate release of the detained Jammu and Kashmir politicians.
The statement was released on Monday, 9 March, and draws attention to the 'growing assaults on democratic norms, fundamental rights and civic liberties of citizens' by the Modi government, claiming that 'democratic dissent is being muzzled'.
The signatories, along with Pawar and Banerjee, are former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, CPI(M) head Sitaram Yechury, D Raja of the CPI, Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha, and ex-ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie.
‘Bounden Duty’ to Demand the Immediate Release of J&K Leaders
Saying that there was no basis for the Modi government’s 'false and self-serving claim' of them being a threat to “public safety,” the statement demands the release of Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, calling their detention a violation of Fundamental Rights.
The statement also points out that the IBJP has previously allied with all three, both at the Centre (with National Conference) and in the state (with People’s Democratic Party).
“Under these circumstances, political parties committed to safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens and securing the sanctity of the Constitution, cannot sit quiet,” the statement says, and concludes with a demand for restoration of all rights and freedoms to “our Kashmiri brethren, who, against all odds, have repeatedly shown their allegiance to the Indian Union, by being an integral part of our democratic process.”
The statement was issued by the office of Sharad Pawar.
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