SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday disallowed a street protest organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Srinagar against the recently notified land laws for the Union Territory (UT). Several PDP leaders were arrested when they assembled at the PDP’s headquarters in Srinagar, which was later sealed by the security forces. “We are protesting against the black laws of the black day. Swords are kept hanging over our heads and a barrel is pointed towards our heads, as there is no space left to express our opinion,” PDP spokesman Suhail Bukhari said, just minutes before he was arrested by the police. The other leaders arrested were Khurshid Alam, Waheed Para, Mohin Qayoom, Tahir Sayeed, Yasir Bhat, Rouf Bhat and Hamid Kohsheen. “The PDP office in Srinagar is sealed by the J&K administration and workers arrested for organizing a peaceful protest. A similar protest was allowed in Jammu so why was it thwarted here? Is this your definition of ‘normalcy’ that’s being showcased in the world?”, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti tweeted. She said the PDP leaders were protesting “against the settler colonial land laws thrusted upon the people of J&K”. “We will continue to raise our voice collectively and won’t tolerate attempts to change demographics. A government desperate to curb any kind of dissent and ready to crush its own people but all the machismo disappears when it comes to fighting China at the LAC,” Ms. Mufti said.
