Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for allowing a 27-member delegation from the European parliament to visit Jammu and Kashmir while not extending the same courtesy to domestic opposition leaders.
A delegation of 27 European Union lawmakers will visit Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday to assess the ground situation there after the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution on August 5.
The team, which met Modi and his National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Monday, is also expected to talk to locals in Jammu and Kashmir, enquiring about their experiences since restrictions were imposed on August 5.
But the government’s permitting the EU lawmakers has not gone down well with the Indian opposition.
"MPs from Europe are welcome to go on a guided tour of Jammu and Kashmir while Indian MPs are banned and denied entry. There is something very wrong with that," Rahul tweeted.
A team of opposition leaders led by Rahul was turned back from Srinagar airport on August 25, weeks after the Indian government scrapped Jammu and Kashmir's special status. The same month, former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was detained while trying to enter the region.
Rahul’s tweet reflected the views of other Congress leaders who had taken to social media earlier on Monday to express their unhappiness over the government allowing foreign leaders into Jammu and Kashmir for a first-hand view of the situation there while disallowing Indian opposition lawmakers to do the same.
Initially, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad too was not allowed to enter Jammu and Kashmir but managed to do it later with the help of the Supreme Court which had imposed certain conditions on him.
While Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor termed the Modi government’s decision to allow European Union lawmakers’ visit to Jammu and Kashmir as "an insult to democracy", his party colleague Jairam Ramesh wondered what may have spurred the "chest-beating champion of nationalism" to take such a step. "My request, made during the Lok Sabha debate on Article 370, for an all-party delegation of MPs to visit to see the situation for themselves has still not been accepted. But members of the European Parliament can travel as our government's guests? What an #InsultToIndianDemocracy!" Tharoor claimed.
Ramesh tweeted "when Indian political leaders have been prevented from meeting the people of Jammu and Kashmir, what possessed the great chest-beating champion of nationalism to allow European politicians to visit J&K. This is an outright insult to India's own Parliament and our democracy," he said. Another Congress leader Manish Tewari's criticism was laced with sarcasm. "Indian MPs should perhaps consider getting elected to European Parliament to be able to visit J&K..." he said.