Yechury meets ailing party colleague in Srinagar

A day after the Supreme Court order, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Thursday arrived here to meet his ailing party colleague and senior state leader Mohammad Tarigami.

Sources said after arriving at Srinagar International airport at around 12 pm, Yechury was taken to Tarigami’s heavily fortified Gupkar residence here. “The two leaders held a detailed meeting for nearly three hours. Yechury is still in Srinagar and is expected to meet Tarigami again on Friday,” they said.

Earlier, Yechury along with CPI leader D Raja was sent back from Srinagar airport on August 12 after they tried to meet Tarigami. Yechury was also part of the Opposition party delegation led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, which was sent back from the airport by the J&K administration last week.

Later Yechury approached the Supreme Court and prayed before it to order the government to allow him to meet Tarigami, who has been ailing since some time. In July 2017, Tarigami had suffered a heart stroke, and according to family sources, he is not keeping well from some time.

“We direct Mr Imtiyaz, Senior Superintend Police (SSP) Security in Jammu and Kashmir to facilitate the travel and help the petitioner (Yechury) in locating the whereabouts of Tarigami, the petitioner’s friend and colleague party member, if required,” the apex court order reads.

"No sooner the petitioner comes back to Delhi, he will file a report supported by an affidavit in connection with the purpose of the visit as indicated in this order.

“He (Tarigami) had urged the authorities to allow him to travel to Delhi for a medical checkup but was denied the same. He was allowed to visit SKIMS hospital in Srinagar instead,” they said.