Yechury Writes To J&K Governor After SC Approval To Visit Srinagar; Seeks Permission To Travel With Attendant

Yechury said that he will be traveling to Srinagar on Thursday to meet the ailing Tarigami, after the Supreme Court gave him permission to do so.

SC allows CPI(M) leader Yechury to visit J&K to meet party colleague Yousuf Tarigami (PTI)

New Delhi: Communist Party of India –Marxist’s (CPI-M )General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has written to Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik seeking permission to come with an attendant to meet his party colleague Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami Yechury said that he will be traveling to Srinagar on Thursday to meet the ailing Tarigami, after the Supreme Court gave him permission to do so. The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Yechury to visit Jammu and Kashmir to meet his party colleague and former MLA Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, while brushing aside the Centre's claim that it might "endanger the situation" in the state. "Why do you have any difficulty if a citizen of this country wants to go there and meet his friend and party colleague?," a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was opposing Yechury's visit to the state. "If a citizen wants to go to a part of his country, he is entitled to go," the bench, also comprising justices S A Bobde and S A Nazeer, said. The court has instructed Yechury not to use his visit for any other purpose. "Since I am not keeping good health and require assistance, a personal attendant would also be accompanying me. Since I am coming there in pursuance of the directions of the Supreme Court, I hope that I will be permitted a personal attendant. An early reply is solicited to facilitate travel arrangements," he wrote. Yechury had earlier tried to visit Kashmir with CPI General Secretary D. Raja on August 9. But the two leaders were detained at the Srinagar airport and sent back home. On August 24 again, he accompanied an Opposition delegation, including former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, to Srinagar. But the group was detained and prevented from getting outside the airport.