VoL Desk: On March 26th, 2023, members of the Territorial Congress (UT Ladakh), District Congress Committee Kargil, Youth Congress, and Congress workers organized a protest, or Dharna, near the Congress Office in Kargil. The protest was held in response to the disqualification of senior Congress leader Sh. Rahul Gandhi from parliamentary membership.

Unfortunately, the local police did not allow the protesters to hold their demonstration, and they also denied access to the local media to the Congress office and its leaders. The protesters viewed this as an attempt to silence their voices and undermine democracy in India, which was the land of Mahatma Gandhi, who fought for democracy until his death. The protesters strongly condemned the high-handedness of the local police in Kargil.

Despite the police’s efforts to prevent the protest, local Congress leaders and workers held a meeting at the Congress office. During the meeting, they expressed their solidarity with Sh. Rahul Gandhi and strongly denounced his disqualification from parliamentary membership.

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The incident highlights the importance of the right to protest and the freedom of speech in a democratic society. Such rights are essential for the functioning of a healthy democracy, and any attempt to suppress them must be condemned.

The Jammu Kashmir National Conference District Unit Kargil in a press release strongly condemns this move and term it as an ‘attack on democracy’. It is very unfortunate that the media was not allowed to cover the event and efforts of the authorities to stifle the voice of the fourth pillar of democracy stands exposed, read the press release.

“We believe that Ladakh is still a part of the largest democracy in the world and not a police state; and that we have the constitutionally ensured right to gather peacefully. This act of Ladakh Police is a clear proof that democracy is under attack in Ladakh. We express our solidarity with the congress party at this juncture, they have right to express their dissent. We also want to express that every party has right to express their political view as mandated by the Constitution of India”.