New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) On the eve of Independence day, CPI(M) on Wednesday lashed out at Narendra Modi-led government and said "when the Prime Minister hoists the tricolour on the Red Fort on August 15, millions of Kashmiris for the eleventh day running would have been deprived of their liberties and fundamental rights".
In an editorial published in its mouthpiece 'People's Democracy', the CPI(M) said that the Independence day this year is being observed under the shadow of the dismemberment of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and a massive clampdown on the people of the valley.
"They have been stripped off their right to movement, to communicate, to earn a livelihood, to go to school, to avail healthcare and medicines – all fundamental rights as citizens in free India", it charged.
The Left party further said that hundreds of Kashmiri political leaders and activists are in jail or detained at secret locations.
"Many have been flown out and kept in jails outside like Agra, Bareilly or Lucknow. Nobody knows their actual whereabouts and their family and relatives are unable to meet them", it added.
The party also slammed the BJP-led government and said "while the Modi government will tom-tom the “integration of Jammu and Kashmir” with India as their great achievement, there will be a sharp contrast as to what independence means to the people of Kashmir as compared to the people of the rest of India."
"The humiliation heaped on the Kashmiris is manifest in the way they are being politically disenfranchised. After Jammu and Kashmir being relegated to union territory status, the new legislative assembly will be on the model of Puducherry with a Lt Governor calling the shots", the party said.
The Left party further stated, "it is also pertinent to observe that the past five years of authoritarian rule have led to the undermining of all institutions under the constitution".
UNI KNA ADG 1950