PDP protests over water, electricity crisis in Srinagar; several leaders detained

July 1, 2025 by News Desk

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Jammu Kashmir Police on Sunday thwarted a protest march by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Srinagar, detaining several party leaders and workers who had assembled to highlight what they described as growing public grievances and administrative indifference.

PDP activists had gathered near the party headquarters with plans to march towards Lal Chowk. However, a heavy deployment of police personnel blocked the procession. As slogans were raised, police swiftly moved in and took multiple protestors into preventive custody.

Among those detained were senior party figures including Mohd Khursheed Alam, Abdul Haq Khan, Zahoor Mir, Arif Laigroo, Iqbal Tramboo, Yaseen Bhat, and Noor Mohammad.

Party leaders condemned the police action, accusing the administration of curbing democratic space. They said the protest aimed to draw attention to erratic electricity and water supply, growing unemployment, and what they alleged was increasing bureaucratic aloofness.

“We intended to protest against worsening living conditions. There is no clean drinking water, electricity bills keep rising, and Kashmiri youth are languishing in jails outside the valley,” said PDP general secretary Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura. “This is the state of democracy under Omar Abdullah and the current administration. Even peaceful protest is now forbidden.”