Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh on Thursday alleged that he had been “illegally detained” at a guest house in Srinagar since morning without being given any reason by the authorities.
Singh said neither was he allowed to address a press conference nor permitted to hold a peaceful protest.
He further claimed that former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah was also prevented from meeting him.
“Modi ji and his BJP trying to crush the Aam Aadmi Party like this is very wrong. I was stopped from even speaking to the press or meeting people here. What kind of democracy is this?” Singh asked, according to news agency Kashmir Indepth News Service (KINS).
The AAP MP linked his detention to the recent arrest of MLA Mehraj Malik from Doda, who, according to Singh, was “imprisoned simply for demanding a hospital for his people.” “When an elected representative is jailed for raising genuine public issues, and opposition leaders are gagged, it raises serious questions about democratic rights in Jammu and Kashmir,” Singh said.
He reiterated that AAP would continue to fight for people’s rights despite the restrictions. “We are not afraid of them. We will fight whatever battle we have to fight – from the streets to the Assembly and even up to the Supreme Court,” Singh asserted.
The AAP leader accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre of using administrative machinery to suppress opposition voices in Jammu and Kashmir. He said such tactics would not stop his party from highlighting the issues of common people.
There was no immediate response from the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Singh’s allegations.(KINS)
