NEW DELHI: CPM leader Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami said on Sunday that the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir was similar to the Emergency and claimed “the current silence at gunpoint cannot be considered normalcy”.

The 72-year-old was detained after J&K’s special status was revoked on August 5. He was brought from Srinagar under police escort on September 9 and admitted to a premier medical institute, where he remains in detention under the guard of Delhi and J&K police.

“There is no freedom to write and speak and it appears that people in the Valley don't have freedom to see. There are restrictions everywhere, the current situation is better described as Emergency,” Tarigami, a central committee member of CPM, said.

“Silence at gunpoint can't be considered normalcy,” he added, making an appeal that people in Kashmir also had a right to live and to coexist like other Indians.

Pitching for compensation of Kashmir’s farmers, Tarigami said while extensive damage had been caused to the apple crop, even apple trees had been destroyed, leading to considerable long-term damage. He also said 40% of the saffron crop was not lifted in time and was damaged. “Despite this, not even a junior minister from Delhi has come to visit Srinagar to access the extent of damage. How do you expect to make the Kashmiris feel a part of India when this is the treatment meted out to them?” he asked.

