Rahul Gandhi sent back from Srinagar Airport

Indian authorities had asked Congress leaders to refrain from visiting the disputed territory.

NEW DELHI (Dunya News) – Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad amongst 20 member delegation of the opposition leaders in India were forced to return back when their flight landed at the Srinagar Airport on Saturday for visiting the valley to express solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir.

Importantly, Gandhi was scheduled to hold meetings with detained Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders.

The senior leaders from several parties including the Congress, Communist Party of India and All India Trinamool Congress boarded the flight from New Delhi. The delegation included D Raja, Sharad Yadav, Majeed Memon, Manoj Jha and others. Indian authorities had asked Congress leaders to refrain from visiting the disputed territory.

Speaking to the media before boarding the flight, the opposition leaders said they wanted to assess the situation in the valley which has been under lockdown for nearly three weeks now.

This would be the second attempt to visit the state by opposition leaders and the first by Gandhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government withdrew special rights for the Muslim-majority state.

The leaders of the Communist party were stopped at the Srinagar airport during the their first visit.

“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 Azad said in comments to reporters before taking the flight from New Delhi.

Occupied Kashmir is under strict lockdown since August 5 when Narendra Modi-led Indian government announced repeal of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian authorities have converted the Kashmir valley particularly Srinagar into a military garrison by deploying Indian troops and paramilitary personnel in every nook and corner. The authorities also continue to impose information blockade as TV channels and internet links remain snapped and restrictions on media continue for more than two weeks.

On the other hand, almost all Hurriyat leaders, including Syed Ali Gilani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have been put under house arrest or in jails. Over 6,000 Kashmiris including hundreds of political leaders and workers have been detained. Those arrested also include even pro-India politicians like Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, Ghulam Ahmed Mir, Engineer Abdur Rasheed and Shah Faesal. The jails and police stations have run out of space and many detainees have been lodged in makeshift detention centres.

Due to severe blockade, the people of Kashmir valley are facing acute shortage of essential commodities including baby food and life-saving medicines.