Internet restrictions and arrests during Cockroach Janta Party-led anti-SIR protests in New Delhi triggered sharp political reactions Saturday, as J&K CM Omar Abdullah said the "Kashmir model" had reached the capital, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti called the restrictions a reminder of Kashmir's 2019 lockdown, and CPM described the atmosphere as "akin to the Emergency". Omar said the "Kashmir model has been exported to Delhi. Welcome to the New Delhi, modelled on New Jammu & Kashmir." Deputy CM Surinder Choudhary questioned whether the situation was any less serious than during the Emergency and called for chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. National Conference spokesperson Sarah Hayat Shah said New Delhi was witnessing "barely .1% of what was done to Kashmir on Aug 5, 2019. " Former CM Mehbooba Mufti called the crackdown "a chilling reminder of Kashmir after the unconstitutional" abrogation of Article 370. "People were locked in their homes, the internet was shut down, and an entire region was placed under siege," she said, recalling her detention for 14 months after Centre revoked J&K's special status and split it into two Union territories in Aug 2019. Leh Apex Body member and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk gave govt 24 hours to release those detained during the New Delhi protest, warning he could launch a sit-in, hunger strike or march in Leh or the capital city. "It appears an undeclared emergency has been imposed across the country," he said, urging govt to resolve the dispute through dialogue. In Punjab, CM Bhagwant Mann slammed Union govt over the detentions. "Where is democracy? Around 80,000 to 90,000 security personnel have been deployed. It is only short of deploying Army to stop them. They are students, they are unarmed. They have come for the sake democracy so that their votes are not deleted... if Gen-Z is coming forward, they should be allowed. Why is Centre scared of Jantar Mantar now?" he said. AAP workers, led by Punjab party in charge Manish Sisodia, held a "vote chori" protest against Kumar outside the chief electoral officer's office in Chandigarh. "If Narendra Modi were genuinely popular and had won elections honestly, he would not be afraid of a few young people sitting at Jantar Mantar. But he is afraid because he has become PM by stealing votes, deleting genuine voters and adding fake votes," Sisodia alleged. In Chennai, DMK president and former Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin condemned the detention of politicians and students protesting against SIR, while Kumar continued to enjoy Z+ security. "Barricading #Delhi, shutting down the internet and detaining politicians cannot crush the uprising of India's youth," he said, demanding Kumar's removal, a halt to SIR and the release of detainees.
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In Keralam, CPM condemned the detentions as creating an atmosphere "akin to the Emergency" and accused Delhi police of acting like "RSS-BJP goons". Top CPM functionaries along with MPs and functionaries of the party's women's, student and youth wings were detained while trying to join the Jantar Mantar protest. CPM called for demonstrations across Keralam. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal accused PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah of protecting Kumar at political cost. He said the closure of Delhi Metro stations to curb protesters reflected BJP-led NDA govt's anxiety and announced a large INDIA bloc protest in the capital Monday.(Inputs from Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Mohali)
