Yechury, Raja detained at Srinagar airport; 'anti-democratic', cries CPI(M)

The CPI(M) on Friday hit out at the government for detaining its general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja at Srinagar airport, saying it was an "anti-democratic" act, which showed the ruling BJP's "authoritarian face".

The Left leaders had gone to Srinagar to meet CPI(M) MLA Md Tarigami and other party colleagues.

"The politburo calls upon the people to protest this anti-democratic act of the BJP government," the statement said.

"This shows the authoritarian face of the BJP government," it added.

Yechury and Raja had written to Satya Pal Malik on Thursday informing him of their visit and requesting him to facilitate their entry.

"Both of us had written to the Jammu and Kashmir governor requesting him that there should be no hurdles for our visit... despite that we have been detained. I wanted to meet my ailing colleague and our comrades who are here," Yechury told PTI.

On Thursday, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was detained and sent back to Delhi from the Srinagar airport.