Resignation of CEC non-negotiable, scenes unfolding in Delhi to stall CJP protests reminiscences memories of Emergency : Stalin

Chennai, Oct 10 (UNI) Asserting that resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) C.Gyanesh Kumar was non-negotiable, DMK President M.K.Stalin on Saturday said the attempts by the union government to stall protests by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) in Delhi and the scale of repression against peaceful protestors bring back painful memories of Emergency that he lived through.

In a post on X, he said beyond the CEC's resignation all the damage done to the EC institutional framework should be undone and its independence and integrity restored. Urging the centre to immediately end its assault on the youth who are peacefully exercising their democratic right to protest, he said dissent was not a crime and that democracy could not survive by silencing those rising to defend it, while demanding the immediate release of all political leaders, students and young protestors detained in Delhi and across the country. Referring to the detention of CJP activists in Chennai today, Stalin also condemned the ruling TVK in Tamil Nadu for acting as an extension of the BJP and unleasing police repression against protesting students. "The scenes unfolding in Delhi today, and the scale of repression being unleashed against peaceful protesters, bring back painful memories of the Emergency that I lived through", he said. "All political leaders, students and young protesters detained in Delhi and across the country must be released immediately", he said, adding, "I strongly condemn the TVK Government in Tamil Nadu for acting as an extension of the BJP and unleashing police repression against protesting students." "The union Government must immediately end its assault on the youth who are peacefully exercising their democratic right to protest. Dissent is not a crime, and democracy cannot survive by silencing those who rise to defend it", Stalin said. . "The resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar is non-negotiable. Beyond his resignation, all the damage done to the institutional framework of the Election Commission must be undone, and its independence and integrity restored", he added. UNI GV 1055