Srinagar, Sep 03: Authorities on Thursday foiled the meeting called by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its party headquarters in Srinagar.

The leaders who were scheduled to participate in the meeting said that none among them was allowed to come out of their homes today to attend the meeting. They said the meeting was called to discuss the ongoing political situation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as about party affairs.

Former minister and senior PDP leader Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura said that at least twenty leaders who were scheduled to attend the meeting today were put under house detention.

He said the leaders besides him who were put under house detention include Abdul Rehman Veeri, Naeem Akhter, Khrsheed Aalam, Muhammad Yousuf Bhat, Aijaz Mir, Zahoor Ahmad Mir, Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra, Farooq Andrabi, Sartaj Madni, Peer Mansoor and others.

Notably, the meeting was being held by the leaders at a time when the party’s president and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was undergoing house detention.

“We had already sought permission from the government for holding the meeting. We didn’t get any response from the government,” he said, adding that soon after they tried to come out of their homes today, they were intercepted by the police and were not allowed to attend the meeting.

“Barring us (leaders) from holding the meeting has clearly indicated that we are not free. We are still caged,” he said.

Asked whether the leaders will call for a meeting again, Hanjura said, “We have not decided anything yet as we are not free yet.”

Pertinently, it was the for the first after the abrogation of Article 370 when the PDP called a meeting in the Valley to discuss the present situation and party affairs—(KNO)