Srinagar/Jammu Mar 9: Jammu and Kashmir unit of Congress on Monday staged protests against the BJP-led central government and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the trade deal with the US.
The party also demanded restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
In Srinagar, scores of Congress workers and leaders assembled at the J-K Pradesh Congress Committee office at M A Road and shouted slogans against the Modi government.
The protesters, led by MLA Bandipora Nizamuddin Bhat, had planned to march from the party office to M A Road to protest outside. However, a posse of police stopped the protestors and sealed the gate of the party office, preventing the protestors from marching outside.
Speaking to reporters, Bhat said the government has “compromised” the country’s image and its sovereignty.
“The simple consequence of the trade deal is that it is for the first time that India’s sovereignty and image has been compromised. It will have far reaching consequences,” he said.
Bhat said the Indo-US trade deal will have economic repercussions.
“The country’s economic situation is in very bad shape, we are in a bit of recession. With this deal, we are not hitting the ordinary individual, we are hitting the country’s economic base,” he said.
Bhat said the government does not care about the Constitution, the sovereignty of the country, about the policies and relations with other countries, the poor, and the identity of J-K.
“We have compromised our integrity, the security of the state, and image as a country of competing strength. In one word this policy is an atrocious attitude which will not serve this country well,” he added.
Bhat also said the country should have stood up in support of Iran and against the US and Israel “barbarism”.
In Jammu, scores of Congress activists and leaders gathered outside the party headquarters at Shaheedi chowk along the Residency road but were not allowed to move forward by police which was deployed in strength to maintain law and order.
The workers, including women, were carrying placards reading “Restore Statehood” and “Hamari Riyasat Hamara Haq” and also raised slogans against the Modi government and the India-US trade deal.
Launching a sharp attack on the Centre, Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Ahmed Karra alleged that the prime minister had “destroyed India’s global standing” and weakened institutions that once defined the country’s foreign policy.
“India was a champion of the Non-Aligned Movement and regional cooperation platforms like SAARC, but today the country’s image has been demeaned. The prime minister’s conduct has brought down the honour and dignity of the office,” he alleged.
He alleged the government was compromising India’s interests in its dealings with global powers.
“They are even dictating terms on whether India should buy oil from Russia. Such decisions about our trade and energy security cannot be dictated by other countries,” he said.
The Congress leader accused the prime minister of making an “abject surrender” in international dealings and reiterated the party’s demand that Modi step down.
“The US and Israel have videos of Modi and are blackmailing him. He is compromised and must step down,” Karra alleged.
During the protest, demonstrators also set ablaze flags of the United States and Israel as a mark of protest.
Karra said the party had planned protests across all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir coinciding with the ongoing Budget session of Parliament, but alleged that police did not allow peaceful demonstrations in certain districts of the Kashmir Valley.
He claimed that Congress workers in several districts of the valley were either detained or placed under house arrest, terming it a curtailment of democratic rights.
“Our constitutional right to protest is not being allowed. This is not democracy but autocracy and replica of the Nazi era,” he said.
Karra reiterated the party’s demand for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Restoration of statehood is our stated stand and we are reiterating it. We are not begging from anyone nor seeking any favour. Our constitutional guarantees must be restored to us,” he said, asserting the party would continue its struggle until statehood is restored.
The Congress leader also criticised the Centre over rising prices, including the hike in LPG, saying the increases would further burden crores of people and worsen the economic situation in the country. (Agencies)
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