New Delhi: Several student bodies and NGOs protested on Thursday through poetry, songs of resistance and solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir and demanded the release of all political leaders and restoration of communication channels in the valley.
Thursday marks 200 days since the government abrogated Article 370 and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Congress leader Salman Nizami slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, "When Prime Minister Modi visited the United States, he said 'Sab Changa Si' (everything is fine) but if everything is fine in India then why are we here protesting for the restoration of Article 370."
"We're only four to five people from Jammu and Kashmir, majority of people who are here don't even belong to Jammu and Kashmir but still they are here with us, because they feel our pain and of every Kashmiri but the government doesn't feel our pain. The foreign envoys who visit the valley ride on Shikara but they don't feel the pain of Shikara Wala (boatmen) who are suffering from last 200 days as there are no resources, no money and total unemployment in the valley," said the Congress leader.
Nizami further claimed that the people of Kashmir have not yet received the packages announced by the Prime Minister after the abrogation of Article 370 and he is just fooling the people of the valley.
Speaking over the detention of Jammu and Kashmir leaders under Public Safety Act (PSA), he said that this act is being misused as it is imposed only on pro-Indian voices and not on separatist leaders.
He said that along with the former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, Shah Faisal was also charged under PSA who has never joined main-stream politics and whose father was killed by Pakistani terrorists.
The Congress leader further said the government has invited US President Donald Trump to Gujarat's Ahmedabad and constructed walls to hide the slum areas. This has exposed the Prime Minister's Gujarat Model, I invite Trump to Kashmir to show Kashmir Model where no walls are built to hide the plight of poor people.
Also, read: Hopeful of Trump's visit passing off peacefully: J&K DGP
