Jammu, 22 July (H.S.): Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Tariq Hameed Karra was detained along with dozens of senior party leaders and workers by police after the party staged a sit-in protest outside Lok Bhavan here.

The action followed a sit-in protest led by the Congress against the detention of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and other prominent leaders of the party in Delhi.

As the news about the Delhi police action reached the party headquarters, Karra led senior party leaders and activists to Lok Bhavan in Panjtirthi area to lodge their protest and chanted slogans demanding resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

While the protest was going on, a contingent of police reached the scene and detained Karra, working president Raman Bhalla, former minister Lal Singh and chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma along with dozens of leaders and activists, officials said, adding they were taken to the Police Lines.

Talking to reporters, Karra alleged that the police crackdown on student protesters in Delhi on Monday reflected an authoritarian mindset and amounted to an assault on democratic values.

The way protesters were beaten and tear gas shells were fired at them, without any regard for whether they were women, men or elderly persons, made it appear as though an emergency had been imposed. It no longer felt like a democratic country but one under police rule, he said.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar