SRINAGAR, Oct 10: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday compared the security restrictions imposed in Delhi ahead of a protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to the ‘crackdown in Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.’
Her remarks came after Delhi Police detained YouTuber Dhruv Rathee and leaders of the Citizen’s Justice Party (CJP) ahead of a proposed protest at Jantar Mantar against alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
In a statement, Mehbooba alleged that authorities were suppressing dissent and subsequently portraying the absence of protests as public acceptance.
“Today’s Delhi is a chilling reminder of Kashmir after the unconstitutional abrogation of Article 370. People were locked in their homes, the internet was shut down, and an entire region was placed under siege,” she said.
The PDP chief alleged that the government had claimed there were no protests in Kashmir after the 2019 decision, despite the restrictions imposed at the time.
“The BJP then brazenly claimed that nobody had protested. Today, with Delhi under siege, trains halted and roads to Jantar Mantar sealed, they may repeat the same lie, claiming that nobody protested against Gyanesh Kumar,” she said.
“First crush the protest, then deny it ever happened. This is how enforced silence is passed off as consent,” Mehbooba added.
The PDP chief’s remarks came amid heightened security across the national capital, where police detained several people attempting to participate in the proposed demonstration.
Protest over SIR, Election Commission
The CJP and opposition groups have been protesting against alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI), demanding accountability from Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The planned demonstration at Jantar Mantar prompted a major security deployment, with police imposing restrictions on access to the protest venue and detaining several people ahead of the gathering.
The Supreme Court had also directed the Centre and Delhi Police on Friday to lift blanket restrictions on metro and railway services ahead of the October 10 protest.
The restrictions and preventive detentions have drawn criticism from opposition leaders, who have questioned the measures taken to prevent protesters from reaching the designated venue.
