Got a taste of brute force unleashed on Kashmiris, says Rahul Gandhi

Indian Congress leader's statement comes after he was sent back to New Delhi from Srinagar airport

A day after being confined to the Srinagar airport for an hour and then sent back to New Delhi, India's Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said he experienced the "draconian administration and brute force unleashed on the Kashmiri people."

Tweeting about his incident, in which a nine-member opposition delegation, led by the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, was stopped from entering Srinagar, he said: "It's been 20 days since the people of Jammu and Kashmir had their freedom and civil liberties curtailed. Leaders of the opposition and press got a taste of the draconian administration and brute force unleashed on the Kashmiri people when we tried to visit Srinagar yesterday."

It's been 20 days since the people of Jammu & Kashmir had their freedom & civil liberties curtailed. Leaders of the Opposition & the Press got a taste of the draconian administration & brute force unleashed on the people of J&K when we tried to visit Srinagar yesterday. pic.twitter.com/PLwakJM5W5

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 25, 2019

After being sent back from Srinagar, Rahul Gandhi admits situation in Kashmir 'not normal'

The delegation intended to visit Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) to assess the situation in the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party government's move to strip the Himalayan valley's special status.

India’s opposition leader @RahulGandhi and Co detained at Kashmir airport

Says if the situation is being touted by the BJP government as normal, why is he being prevented to meet Kashmiris pic.twitter.com/r9zVvjUbIL

— Baba Umar (@BabaUmarr) August 24, 2019

Authorities did not allow the opposition members to leave the airport and booked them a return flight to New Delhi soon after they landed.

#Heartbreaking see this #Kashmiri woman telling #RahulGandhi about the difficulties she and her family are facing in Indian occupied #Kashmir by #IndianArmy #brutality pic.twitter.com/vZaei4toOu

— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) August 24, 2019

The Congress party had tweeted that the visit led by Gandhi was "an attempt to review the reality in the region after the abrogation of Article 370".

Following the incident, the party condemned the BJP government's move to prevent opposition leaders from visiting Occupied Kashmir, asking on Twitter why the delegation was sent back if, according to the government, the situation in the valley was "normal".

"What is the Modi government trying to hide?"