‘Will be forced to see democracy die if status quo doesn’t change’
Srinagar: The People’s Democratic Party on Thursday accused the BJP-led Centre of curbing freedom of expression, saying if the status quo continues, it will lead to the death of democracy.
‘Nine Indian journalists have been arbitrarily arrested and six of them are Kashmiri. We may not have seen the birth of the Indian democracy but if the status quo doesn’t change, we’ll be forced to watch it die. After silencing journalists, they are going after government employees next and the GOI has warned them of dire consequences for participating in any protests or voicing their concerns,’ the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) said in the November edition of its newsletter Speak Up’.
The party also said that Kashmiris were not allowed to voice their concerns for war-hit Palestine or hold community prayers for Palestinians.
‘If you think censorship only applies to Indian issues, think again. For the first time in history, India has openly taken a pro-Israel stance and Kashmiris were prevented from protesting for Palestine. The world saw millions of people from all nationalities and religions come out in protest for Palestine but Kashmiri preachers were not even allowed to hold community prayers for our Palestinian brethren,’
‘Naturally, BJP is not speaking out against the atrocities because they are too busy taking notes so they can improve their J&K operation by learning from Israel. They say the biggest recruiter for Hamas is Israel. Who do you think the biggest recruiter for Kashmiri Mujahideen is?’ the party asked. Referring to former DGPDilbag Singh’s statement on collateral damage in J&K, the PDP said fundamental rights, freedom, land and economy of people in Union Territory have been compromised.
‘Ex-DGP Dilbag Singh recently remarked that during the last five years, J&K witnessed zero collateral damage’. Indeed, we’ve had zero collateral damage except for the people of J&K, their fundamental rights as Indian citizens, their freedom, land, and economy,’ the party added.
