Azad slams govt for not allowing Congress spokesman to hold presser in Jammu

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has condemned the Jammu and Kashmir administration for not allowing party spokesperson and ex- MLC Ravinder Sharma to address a press conference on Friday at Congress party headquarter in Jammu.

Azad also condemned the state government action of arresting Sharma and taking him to some undisclosed location. He further said that this action of the state government is in total violation of any democratic norms.

“On one side the state and central government are asserting that Jammu is normal and people are celebrating, while at the same time the leaders of opposition parties are not even allowed to address the press conferences. This double speak of the government has been exposed,” Azad, a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said in a statement.

Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into a Union Territory and is being directly governed by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre. The state has been under curfew with total shut down of all communications line after the government abrogated Articles 370 and 35A on August 5.

Azad also demanded the immediate release of National Conference leader Omar Abdulla and PDP president Mehbooba Mufit – both former chief ministers of J&K -- and other senior leaders of all the political parties including Ravinder Sharma.