Expressing solidarity with the separatist “struggle” in Kashmir, the Communist Party of India, Maoist, (CPIM-L) has called a 24-hour lockdown on September 30 in six states.
This is the first time that the Naxalites came out with an action plan to show their support for the “right to self-determination” in Kashmir — the political line toed by the hardliner Hurriyat leaders and pro-Pakistan elements.
“CPI (Maoist) firmly reiterates that the Kashmiri movement for liberation of Kashmiris, for their right to self-determination is completely just and that neither India nor Pakistan has any rights over them,” said a statement from the Naxalites today.
The CPIM-L that the bandh will be observed in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Gadchiroli, Gondia and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh.
The bandh threatens to affect rail and road traffic, banks, government and private offices, industries, educational institutions and business establishments.
Citing former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s promise for a plebiscite, the radicals have said, “Let’s fight unitedly against this common enemy of ours. Let us intensify our struggles.”
Hurriyat slams government’s peace package
After the hardline faction of the Hurriyat, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, rejected the UPA government’s recent peace package for Kashmir, moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq slammed the initiatives.
A spokesman for the Hurriyat (M) faction said, the eight-point formula “reflects a lack of willingness to understand and address the basic issue. This is disappointing.”
