The situation in Jammu and Kashmir is clearly not normal, said Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, after a delegation of opposition leaders was denied permission to step out of the Srinagar airport and sent back to New Delhi.
Speaking to reporters after landing at Delhi airport, he said that the delegation, comprising 12 opposition leaders, wanted to get a sense of
what people were undergoing, however, they were not allowed to move beyond the airport. He further said that media personnel, who accompanied the delegation, were mishandled and beaten up.
“Some days ago I was invited by the governor to visit Kashmir. I accepted the invitation. We wanted to get a sense of what people are
going through, but we weren’t allowed beyond the airport.
Later, the Congress party’s Twitter handle wrote, “The government is saying everything is okay here and everything is normal. If everything
is normal why are we not allowed out? Was it not Governor Satya Pal Malik that invited Mr. Gandhi to come to J&K and assess the situation for himself?”
The delegation comprised Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and KC Venugopal, CPIM’s Sitaram Yechuri, CPI’s D
Raja, RJD’s Manoj Jha, JDS’s Kupendra Reddy, NCP’s Majeed Memon, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, LJD’s Sharad Yadav, and TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi.
According to India Today, the Indian opposition leaders and media representatives were separated on reaching Srinagar. When the media tried to approach them, police allegedly misbehaved with journalists.
Restrictions have been imposed in Kashmir since India withdrew the disputed region’s special status under Article-370 and split the state into two Union Territories on August 5.
Azad was twice stopped at Jammu airport, most recently, and was “forcibly” sent back to Delhi on each occasion.
The Indian opposition leaders also intended to visit some other parts of Kashmir. But, authorities in occupied Kashmir did not allowed any Indian
leader to enter the valley.
“If the situation is normal then why is the government restricting us from entering the valley. On the one hand, the government says that
things are normal and on the other, they impose entry restrictions, why so much contradictions,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi told
reporters earlier before taking the flight from New Delhi.
On August 22, the Indian opposition parties staged a protest in New Delhi, demanding the release of scores of political leaders arrested or
detained in Kashmir.
Nearly 400 Jammu and Kashmir politicians and leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, were either arrested
or detained following the centre’s decision to withdraw special status, said the report.
Kashmiris were barred from holding a protest demonstration outside the UN office in Srinagar after Friday prayers against India’s provocative
August 5 move and its illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir.
Security forces were deployed in strength in many places to maintain law and order amid unrest over India’s treatment of the region.
However, sporadic demonstrations rocked some parts of Srinagar, with clashes between stone-throwing protesters and Indian security forces
leaving more than 100 injured.