The Workers Party of Ireland condemns the unlawful and undemocratic detention of Comrade Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Comrade D Raja, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, at Srinagar Airport on 9th August 2019. They were on their way to meet members and activists of their respective parties and to meet the people of Jammu & Kashmir but were prevented from leaving the airport and kept under police custody.

This action by the Modi government exposes the falsity of claims by it that
the situation in Jammu & Kashmir is normal and that the people are content with the illegal and unconstitutional methods of the Modi government, including the presence of tens of thousands of security forces, an imposed curfew and the decision to abolish articles 370 and 35A.

Comrade Yechury had advised the relevant authorities that he would be
visiting Srinagar on the 9th August to meet Mohd. Yusuf Tarigami, a CPI(M) Central Committee member who had not been well. These actions by the security forces on the orders of the Modi government are a denial of basic democratic rights and evidence of the increased authoritarianism of the Modi regime.

The Workers Party of Ireland sends best wishes to comrades Yechury and
Raja and extends its solidarity to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Communist Party of India.

Gerry Grainger
Member of the Central Executive Committee responsible for International Relations

August 2019