New Delhi, January 26: Former Union Minister P Chidambaram warned the nation against rising authoritarianism while tweeting on Republic Day 2020. In his post on the social media site, the Congress veteran issued a clarion call to the nation to "raise the level of protest". The 74-year-old also asked the countrymen to reflect upon the situation in Kashmir, where freedom has allegedly been denied to scores since the repeal of Article 370. Tricolour Unfurled at Shaheen Bagh, Epicentre of Anti-CAA Protests.

"Remember that today as we think of the 70 lakh people of the Kashmir valley whose freedoms have been taken away, including those in custody for over 6 months. without charges," Chidambaram said, adding, "Add to that the outrageous charges, including sedition, slapped against hundreds of protesters by the authoritarian government."

Chidambaram stressed that as long as freedom is denied to even a section of the country's population, it is akin to the entire citizenry being denied their rights. "As long as freedoms are denied to any part of the people, the whole of the population is denied freedom," he said.

See P Chidambaram's Tweet

"As we raise the flag today, let us also raise the level of protest," Chidambaram said amid the nationwide stir against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizenship (NRC) exercise. The senior Congress leader has been vocal in protesting the citizenship agenda of the Centre, calling it a fascistic exercise which may end up turning a section of Indian minorities "stateless".

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2020 10:09 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).