Denounce the denial of the right to hold press conference in solidarity with the
people of Kashmir by the Press Club of India at the behest of the Indian state!

“Today, while Jantar Mantar has been shut for the democratic right to protest, now even the Press Club of India has been shut to our fundamental right to freedom of expression. The Press, which is supposed to be the fourth pillar of democracy, has fallen prey to the control of
Indian State, its Police force and the right wing.”
-Vara Vara Rao

In display of its undemocratic and increasingly fascist tactics, the Indian state yesterday did not allow 150 Kashmiri children, women and men from exercising their democratic right to stage a two-day hunger strike at Jantar Mantar. Alongside, the Indian state with vicious promptness arrested Yasin Malik who had come to participate in the protest of the Kashmiri families, and took him into ‘preventive custody’. Each of these families have one or more of their family members who have either been made to disappear (read killed) or are languishing in Indian jails for decades for the ‘crime’ of fighting for their inalienable right to self-determination. Not only were their democratic right to protest and their demand for the release of the political prisoners denied, these families were also harassed, heckled, threatened with arrest, surrounded and detained by the Police in Jamia Nagar.

Protesting this draconian move, the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners [CRPP] called for a press conference in the Press Club India. But the same fascist tactic of silencing dissent repeated itself as under the clear instructions of the Indian State, the Press Club officials (themselves journalists) canceled the booking for the Press Conference at the last minute. The officials branded the program as ‘anti-national’ which again is the language of the Indian State which is used to justify the suppression of all dissenting voices. This is the first time the Press Club of India canceled such an event at the venue in the name of ‘protecting sentiments’ of the communal jingoist nationalism. Further, the officials, along with the Delhi Police and right wing organizations gathered at the venue, bodily pushed and heckled Vara Vara Rao and others attending the Press Conference. Aam Aadmi Party cadres were seen holding placards wearing party-caps along with other right wing organisations. Once again we see the clear collusion of the Indian State, its police, its press and the right wing forces to brand the genuine struggle for Azaadi of the people of Kashmir as “terrorism”.

The families also included that of Maqbool Butt’s as they raised the legitimate demand for the bodies of Butt and Afzal Guru that have been kept behind the high walls of Tihar jail. Despite all the sound and fury, the jack boots and the draconian laws, the Indian state is plagued by the fear of even the bodies of the people’s martyrs and common men, women and children of Kashmir who are valiantlyresisting the draconian state and its various fascist moves.