Azad: Civil disobedience building up in Kashmir

Rajya Sabha Opposition leader and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad saw a dangerous buildup of civil disobedience in the Kashmir valley as a mark of protest at the curfew-like lockdown since August 5.

He also flagged exhaustion of the food supplies in the Valley that he witnessed during a 6-day trip to Jammu and Kashmir. He was there after the permission of the Supreme Court and yet he noted how the authorities tried its best to prevent the locals to meet him and even videographed his visitors.

“What I was told was alarming. Ever since the government passed the legislation making J&K a Union Territory and scrapping Article 370, people in the Valley have been boycotting public transport and refusing to open shops. Groceries are opened briefly twice a day. A massive disobedience movement, the kind Mahatma Gandhi practised, is on. Unprecedened anger not seen over the past 30 years is building up,” Azad warned.

He sought free ration to the poor, who have not made money since the clampdown. “Since the day of the shutdown,

people in Kashmir have been using rice donated during Ramzan to sustain the poor labourers. Now, these stocks have exhaused in 50% of the places and people have nothing left to eat, nor do they have money to buy food either,” he said.

Azad described the situation as a “government-induced calamity”, not expected from any government in a democracy. Instead of protecting the people, it is starving them to death, he rued.

He demanded immediate release of all detainees, including three former chief ministers -- Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti. Azad himself is a former CM.

Azad decried the way his entire trip was shadowed by the authorities. “In Srinagar, I wasn’t allowed to use my house. I was put up in a government

accommodation, which was like a fortress. People had to cross three barriers of the security personnel to reach me and most were rather sent back.

“At the gate were stationed state vigilance and CID teams. A camera was installed to capture photos of the visitors. In Anantnag, they even recorded my conversation with the locals,” Azad said, adding the situation in Jammu was no better. “The impression being given through the official channels about Jammu celebrating the government decision is false.”

He said he would present a report to the Supreme Court about the situation as directed while allowing him to visit Jammu and Kashmir after the authorities turned him away from entering the state thrice from the airports.