The youth wing of the National Conference on Wednesday joined the protest against the new food Act, which has drawn criticism from separatists and residents of the region.
The protesters led by NC youth wing president Salman Sagar marched from the party headquarters to Regal Chowk in the heart of the city’s busy commercial centre, where they were stopped by the police.
The protesters shouted slogans against the state government and Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the new food Act. Several demonstrators, including Sagar, were detained by the police and later let off.
Party’s provincial president Nasir Aslam Wani criticised the state government for “thwarting the voice of opposition” by detaining the demonstrators. “By arresting youth leaders Salman Sagar, Imran Nabi Dar, Mudassir Shahmiri, Ahsan Pardesi and scores of other party activists for the crime of raising their voice against government inefficiency in a peaceful protest rally, Mufti Sayeed’s government has once again proven that his idealistic talk was just a rhetoric,” Nasir said in a statement.
Sagar, the youth wing president, told reporters earlier that the protest was against the National Food Security Act, which is scheduled to be implemented in the state in February. “If we go by the work record of this government, we will have to protest every day. But today’s protest is against the food Act which the government is going to implement. We completely oppose it,” Sagar said. “This government is sleeping and we only want to awaken it.”
The proposed implementation of the National Food Security Act has sparked days of protests in the Kashmir valley this month as demonstrators have alleged that the distribution of ration under the new Act would be insufficient for families.
Under the new food Act, 5 kg of rice will be distributed to each member of a family instead of the current fixed amount of 35 kg per family. The state government has said the implementation of the new Act would plug the pilferage in the existing public distribution system and ensure the supply of ration in a transparent manner.
The state government has maintained that 22.73 lakh families comprising 119.13 lakh members are to be covered under the food Act in the state. The Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution department and the District Development Commissioners are in the process of creating a comprehensive database in this regard.
The food act has also drawn condemnation from the region’s separatists. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads the moderate Hurriyat faction, has termed the food Act “anti-people” and demanded its rollback.
Sagar, meanwhile, said the protest was also a demonstration against the killing of the party activist in Rajouri district. The activist was shot dead by a Village Defence Committee member. “We want the Village Defence Committee to be disbanded,” he said.
NC’s youth wing joins protest against food Act
