March for statehood: Police in Jammu detains several Congress activists

Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Tariq Hameed Karra was among scores of activists detained on Sunday by police during their march for statehood here.

This was the second time in as many days that police did not allow Congress to hold a rally, held under the banner 'Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq'.

On Saturday, a congress rally was stopped by police in Srinagar.

Hundreds of Congress activists led by Karra and party general secretary G A Mir assembled at party headquarters at Shaheedi Chowk in the heart of Jammu. They were to march to Raj Bhawan to submit a memorandum to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, but were thwarted by police barricades.

Mir was also among the detainees.

Karra denounced the authorities, saying, "By this action, they showed their frustration and their mentality that they do not believe in a democratic system and have no respect for people's voice." He said that they were not on the roads to spread unrest, but had planned to submit a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the Lt Governor championing people's yearning for statehood.

"The Congress will not be cowed down by such actions, but will further strengthen our resolve to fight for our rights," Karra said.

He said that police action in Srinagar and Jammu notwithstanding, the party will go ahead with its 'Delhi challo' programme on Monday to 'ghareo' parliament on the first day of the Monsoon Session.

"We will try to surround the Parliament on reaching Delhi. We will try to wake up this deaf, blind and handicapped government so that they can make Jammu and Kashmir a state as soon as possible," the PCC president said. He said the entire INDIA bloc MPs support the demand for statehood for Jammu and Kashmir.

Mir said, "This is the commitment that was made by the Prime Minister. It has been 10 months (since the Lok Sabha elections), but statehood has not been restored yet. Modi should fulfil his commitment."

AICC secretary Shahnawaz Choudhary, among the detainees, accused police of trying to suppress the voice of the people.

"There is no justification for such an action against our peaceful rally. We will continue our struggle for restoration of statehood," he said.