Police foil Congress's protest march in Srinagar over statehood demand

Police on Saturday foiled a protest march by the Congress in Srinagar, which was held to press for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.

 

Heavy deployment of police personnel prevented senior Congress leaders, including J&K Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hamid Karra, from submitting a memorandum to Divisional Commissioner V.K. Bidhuri.

 

Scores of Congress workers had assembled at the party’s headquarters on Residency Road in the morning to take part in the protest. As the group, led by Karra, tried to march towards the Divisional Commissioner’s office, they were stopped at the gates, leading to a scuffle between Congress workers and the police.

 

Men and women workers holding placards reading “Hamari Riyasat, Hamara Haq” (our statehood, our right) tried to push their way out, but were blocked, and some were reportedly detained.

 

“We only wanted to submit a memorandum to the Divisional Commissioner because the BJP-led government has failed to honour its promise of restoring statehood,” Karra told reporters. “We wanted a peaceful protest, but the police didn’t allow us. Our workers have also been arrested.”

 

The Congress has intensified its campaign for the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

 

 On July 16, party president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to introduce a bill for statehood restoration in the upcoming Parliament session.

 

A similar protest is scheduled to be held by the J&K Congress unit in Jammu on Saturday. The party has also given a “Delhi Chalo” call for July 22 to gherao Parliament and press for their demand.

 

Observers believe that the Congress’s renewed push for statehood is fuelled by the return of several senior leaders who had defected to Ghulam Nabi Azad’s Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) in 2022 but have since rejoined the Congress. The DPAP performed poorly in both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections last year.

 

With its aggressive statehood campaign, the Congress hopes to reclaim political ground lost to the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

India