Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Congress president Ghulam Ahmad Mir and scores of party workers were detained in Jammu on Thursday during a protest against the BJP-led central government over the rise in prices of fuel and other essential commodities.
Mir alleged that the government was fleecing the poor by imposing unreasonable taxes on petrol, diesel and cooking gas.
He accused the government of indulging in “tax terrorism” to give undue benefits to big corporates.
As part of a nationwide protest call, a large number of Congress workers led by Mir assembled in the Tawi bridge area carrying placards and banners and raised slogans against the central government.
The protesters briefly blocked the Tawi bridge, disrupting traffic. The police detained the protesters, including Mir, and took them to the district police lines in Gandhi Nagar. They were later released.
Talking to reporters, Mir said the BJP is insensitive to the hardships of the poor and filling the coffers of the government by levying heavy taxes on petrol, diesel, cooking gas and other essential services.
“The Modi government is anti-poor and anti-common people…today the unemployed youth, daily wagers and the middle class are fed up and want to change the present dispensation,” he said.
