Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury and another party member D Raja were detained at the Srinagar airport on Friday after they landed there amid security clampdown in the Valley.
His party tweeted that Yechury has being detained at Srinagar Airport and was not allowed to move anywhere despite “informing the administration about his visit to meet CPI(M) MLA MY Tarigami who is unwell”.
“Sitaram Yechury has been detained at Srinagar Airport and not allowed to move anywhere. This despite the fact that he had informed the administration about his visit to meet CPIM MLA MY Tarigami who is not well & other party workers. We strongly protest this illegal detention,” CPI(M) tweeted.
.@SitaramYechury has being detained at Srinagar Airport and not allowed to move anywhere. This despite the fact that he had informed the administration about his visit to meet CPIM MLA MY Tarigami who is not well & other party workers.
We strongly protest this illegal detention.— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 9, 2019
The party also condemned the detention of its leader saying that “this shows the authoritarian face of the Government”.
CPIM Politburo condemns the detention of General Secretary @SitaramYechury & D Raja, CPI General Secretary, @ Srinagar airport. This shows the authoritarian face of the Govt.
Politburo calls upon the people to protest this anti-democratic act of the Govt.https://t.co/Vo8MCKeQup— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 9, 2019
Prior to his departure, Sitaram Yechury had tweeted that he and Raja were flying on a 9.55 am IndiGo flight to meet comrade Yousuf Tarigami and other party members in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also attached a letter to Governor Satya Pal Malik informing about his visit.
In the letter, he expressed hope that the J-K administration will not create any hurdles in discharging his responsibilities as the chief of the party.
Com D Raja and I are on our way to Srinagar on the 9.55 am Indigo flight to meet Com Yousuf Tarigami and our other comrades in Jammu & Kashmir pic.twitter.com/axRKZkLbV6
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 9, 2019
“They showed us a legal order which did not allow any entry into Srinagar. It stated that even with escorted movement, entry to the city was not allowed due to security reasons. We are still trying to negotiate with them,” Yechury told news agency PTI on phone following his detention.
“Both of us had written to the J&K governor requesting him that there should be no hurdles for our visit. Despite that, we have been detained. I wanted to meet my ailing colleague and our comrades who are here,” said Yechury.
Around 400 political leaders, including former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah, remain in custody as the government tries to avoid protests or rallies.
A massive security clampdown is being witnessed in Kashmir as thousands of paramilitary troops have been deployed to maintain law and order in the wake of abrogation of Article 370, which grants special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier on Thursday, Congress member of Parliament and leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was sent back to Delhi hours after he was stopped at the Srinagar airport.
Read | Kashmir lockdown: Ghulam Nabi Azad stopped at Srinagar airport, sent back to Delhi
Azad was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir when they were stopped at the airport.
Ghulam Nabi Azad had left for Srinagar to hold a meeting with Congress leaders at the Pradesh Congress Committee office in Srinagar.
On Tuesday, the Parliament had okayed a resolution to scrap Article 370 and passed a bill to split the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.