Jammu and Kashmir Coordination Committee – an amalgam of trade bodies and civil society – has called for Kashmir Bandh on Wednesday to protest against the police action against the traders and civil society members.
“Scores of traders were detained and beaten by the police when we tried to take out a peaceful protest march outside the Assembly complex. In the morning, Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers (KTMF) president Muhammad Yaseen Khan and civil society members Mubeen Shah and Shakeel Qalandar were put under house arrest. The state government wants to implement the law (GST) blindly,” Convener JKCC, Siraj Ahmad told Kashmir Post.
“We will continue to raise our voice even if the government puts curbs on us. The highhandedness of police is unacceptable. We have called for shutdown tomorrow as a mark of protest,” he added.
The JKCC Convener said they had asked the state government to defer the implementation of GST and initiate a discussion over the alternative model so that it would not affect Article 370. “But they are fooling people by making fake promises,” Siraj said.
He said there is no rule of law in the state “and the lawmakers are only after power.”
“If the government continues to evade discussion over the new tax regime we will hold valley-wide protest,” he added.
Meanwhile, The Hurriyat Conference today extended “full support” to the JKCC (J&K Coordination Committee) — an amalgam of trade and civil society groups formed to oppose the implementation of the Goods and Service Tax (GST) in its current form.
All Parties Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, “We have full faith in the judgement of the JKCC and extend support to its protest programmes in the wake of the state government’s decision to implement the GST in Jammu and Kashmir by bringing it through a Presidential order.
” Mirwaiz in a statement said people of Kashmir would oppose, tooth and nail, all moves aimed at eroding the special status of J&K.
He said unless grave apprehensions and serious concerns raised by the JKCC with regard to the manner and motive of the law being implemented here was satisfied, any attempt to implement the law would be met with stiff resistance by the Hurriyat leadership and people.
The JKCC, during a press conference on Monday, said Kashmir would erupt if the government went ahead with the GST implementation, which would “erode” the state’s special position. It warned the PDP-BJP coalition on Monday and decided to come up with a protest programme against the GST implementation.
The Hurriyat leader condemned the highhandedness of the state against the protesting traders and members of the JKCC by arresting them and foiling their peaceful protest. He said it was deplorable that “every move to raise our voice on any matter is met with force and repressions”.
