In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, a number of Congress leaders and workers, including the President of Indian National Congress chapter in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Ghulam Ahmad Mir, were detained on Monday after they staged a sit-in and tried to take out a march in Jammu to protest misuse of Indian agencies against opposition leaders.
The protest was part of the agitation by the Congress against questioning of former Congress president Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money laundering investigation.
Hundreds of Congress workers led by Ghulam Ahmad Mir assembled outside the party headquarters at Shaheedi Chowk in Jammu and staged a sit-in before starting a march which was, however, foiled by the police by barricading the main Residency Road, officials said.
They said when the protesters tried to break the police cordon, police swung into action and detained the protesters who were taken to Police Lines Gandhi Nagar in two buses.
Prominent among those taken into custody include working Congress president Raman Bhalla, vice president Mula Ram, chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, former ministers Shabir Khan and Yogesh Sawhney, president Mahila Congress Indu Pawar and youth Congress president Udey Chib.
“The entire Congress leadership is on the roads across India and our aim is to march towards the ED offices to lodge a protest against the BJP-led government which is misusing its agencies,” Mir told reporters before being detained by police.
Amid anti-BJP and pro-Congress sloganeering by the protesters, Mir said that BJP was using the agencies like ED, National Investigation Agency and Central Bureau of Investigation to browbeat the opposition.
Anyone speaking against the wrong policies of this government becomes the target of the central agencies. We are protesting against this situation and the undemocratic actions, the Congress leader said.—KMS
