The CPI(ML) held a demonstration at Parliament Street in New Delhi to protest the continuing military repression of protesters in Kashmir, demanding that the UPA Government ensure the release of arrested Kashmiri leaders and initiate an unconditional dialogue with them. Protesters burnt the effigy of UPA Govt. responsible for the deteriorating situation in Jammu and Kashmir. They condemned the Congress and BJP’s competitive communal tactics for creating a communal division between Jammu and Kashmir. The protestors also condemned the communal pogrom by the Sangh Parivar against Christians in Kandhamal (Orissa), emboldened by the tacit support on part of the BJD-BJP-led State Government and the inaction of the UPA Government at the Centre.
The protest gathering was addressed by CPI(ML) Central Committee member Swapan Mukherjee, students from the Manipuri Students Association Delhi, Javed Wani from AISA, JNU, human rights activist Gautam Navlakha, economist Prof. Amit Bhaduri, political scientist Prof. Manoranjan Mohanty, Shree Prakash of INSAF, Ravi Hemadri of Other Media, JNU Students’ Union President Sandeep Singh and Joint Secretary Mobeen Alam. The protest meeting was conducted by CPI(ML) CCM Kavita Krishnan. Others who attended included former senior bureaucrat KB Saxena, Radhika Menon and Manisha Sethy from Forum for Democratic Initiatives (FDI), Delhi State Secretary Sanjay Sharma, CPI(ML) State Committee members Amarnath Tiwary, Santosh Rai, VKS Gautam, and many others.
