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
Indian Congress Leader Rahul Gandhi (Right) after being forced to fly back to New Delhi from the Srinagar airport. PHOTO COURTESY: ANI
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."
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.
Authorities did not allow the opposition members to leave the airport and booked them a return flight to New Delhi soon after they landed.
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?"
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."
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.
Authorities did not allow the opposition members to leave the airport and booked them a return flight to New Delhi soon after they landed.
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?"