SIR stir: 'Kashmir model' in Delhi, situation akin to Emergency, says opposition

Political leaders across India reacted sharply to internet restrictions and arrests during anti-S Sedition rallies in New Delhi on Saturday. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah likened the situation in the capital to a "Kashmir model" while PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti warned it echoed the 2019 Kashmir lockdown. The Communist Party of India called the atmosphere "akin to the Emergency".

Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary questioned whether the climate was less severe than during the Emergency and called for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign. National Conference spokesperson Sarah Hayat Shah claimed New Delhi was witnessing only a fraction of the repression seen in Kashmir on August 5, 2019.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described the crackdown as a "chilling reminder of Kashmir" after the revocation of Article 370. Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk challenged the government to release detainees within 24 hours or face a sit-in or hunger strike. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann condemned the detentions as "barely short of deploying Army" to stop the protesters who were mostly students and unarmed.

AAP workers held a "vote chori" protest outside the chief electoral officer's office in Chandigarh, accusing the Prime Minister of stealing votes and deleting genuine ones. Chennai's DMK president MK Stalin condemned the detention of politicians and students, demanding Kumar's removal and a halt to the S Sedition ordinance. In Kerala, the CPM called the atmosphere an "Emergency" and accused police of acting like "RSS-BJP goons", while Congress general secretary KC Venugopal accused Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of protecting Kumar at the political cost.