NC, PDP workers protest after detention of Omar Abdullah, other leaders

Scores of activists of the National Conference NC and the Peoples Democratic Party PDP took out separate protest marches here on Saturday after authorities allegedly detained top leaders of the parties ahead of a proposed sitin against the draft proposals of the Delimitation CommissionThe protest call was given by the Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration PAGD ndash an amalgam of various mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir including the NC the PDP CPIM Peoples Movement and Awami National ConferenceNC activists including party spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar and youth wing president Salman Sagar took out a protest march from NC headquarters NawaiSubah hereThe party activists tried to move towards Gupkar Road but were stopped by the police outside the party officeldquoWe wanted to take out a peaceful protest march against the Delimitation Commissions draft proposals but were stopped by the police They did not even allow us to hold a sitinrdquo Dar saidThe NC Spokesperson alleged the police ldquodraggedrdquo the party activists back to NawaiSubahPDP activists also took out a protest march demanding restoration of Articles 370 and 35A which were revoked by the Centre on August 5 2019The PDP activists were stopped by the police near GPO and later dispersed peacefullyMeanwhile NC vice president Omar Abdullah and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti praised their party colleagues for the protestsldquoWell done to my JKNC_ amp YNCJK colleagues for managing to come out amp register our protest about all that is being done to disempower the peoplerdquo Omar wrote on TwitterldquoDespite the despotic administrations attempts to foil our protests PDP amp NC workers managed to hit the streets in Srinagar today to raise their voice against the illegal revocation of Article 370 I salute their courage amp resolverdquo Mehbooba said in a tweetEarlier authorities foiled the proposed protest march of the PAGD here against the draft proposals of the Delimitation Commission by allegedly detaining prominent leaders of the allianceAlliance president Farooq Abdullah who is also the NC chief PAGD vice president Mehbooba Mufti and spokesperson M Y Tarigami a senior leader of the CPIM were among the leaders who were allegedly prevented from moving out of their residencesOmar Abdullah alleged that police had locked the internal gates of their residence and trucks had been parked outsideHe posted pictures of a police vehicle parked on the gates of their residence as well as that of a locked internal gateTarigami said he was also put under house arrest and his residence lockedOn December 21 the PAGD termed the proposal by the Delimitation Commission of adding six seats to Jammu region against only one to Kashmir valley as divisive and said the alliance would stage a protest here on New Year dayPeoples Conference chief Sajad Lone said the right to protest is intrinsic to the concept of a vibrant democracyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever