Opposition party leaders organized a protest at Jantar Mantar today against the abrogation of Article 370 by the Indian government. Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress party, CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat, Sitaram Yechury and Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav were present at the protest led by DMK. Interestingly, Shehla Rashid also attended the event.
Amusingly enough, mainstream politicians appear to be hesitant to associate themselves with Shehla. Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Yadav outright denied knowing her minutes after sharing the stage with the freelance activist.
Yadav said, “I am against anyone who says or tweets anything against the Indian Army. I don’t know who Shehla Rashid is, I do not recognize her. She is nobody that I should know her.”
Yadav also clarified that he does not oppose the removal of the Article 370 and the all-party demonstration was limited to demanding the release of political leaders detained in Jammu and Kashmir and allowing the media more freedom in the valley.
Shehla Rashid, a habitual fake news peddler, was under controversy recently for accusing the Indian Army of torture of common citizens of Kashmir. Shehla, moreover, was asked about her dubious allegations against the Indian Army. She was evasive about it as she said she would provide evidence for her claims if the Army constitutes a probe into the matter.
The protests didn’t go according to plans. Karti Chidambaram’s dramatic entry at Jantar Mantar stole the opposition parties’ show as all the media attention went to Karti. The media seemed to be more interested in knowing what the next step of the father-son duo would be than the DMK-led protest.