“Situation not normal in J&K”: Rahul Gandhi after being sent back from Srinagar airport

Rahul Gandhi further claimed that he was invited by Governor Satyapal Malik to visit the state that despite the ban in Jammu and Kashmir.

New Delhi| Several opposition leaders, including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, were sent back from Srinagar Airport on Saturday. Upon returning back to Delhi, Rahul Gandhi said, “This step of the state administration has proved that the law and order situation is not normal in Jammu and Kashmir.” Rahul Gandhi further claimed that he was invited by Governor Satyapal Malik to visit the state that despite the ban in Jammu and Kashmir following the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370.

Rahul Gandhi said,

“A few days ago, I was invited by the Governor to visit Jammu and Kashmir. So I accepted his invitation.”

 

“The Governor had suggested that everything is normal here and he would send me a plane to visit the state.”

 

“I told him – I do not need your plane but I will accept your invitation and I will come to Jammu and Kashmir.”

After returning to Delhi, Rahul said, “We wanted to know what the people are doing and if we can help them, but unfortunately we were not allowed to go out of the airport.” The press people with us were mistreated and beaten. It is clear that the situation is not normal in Jammu and Kashmir.

Opposition leaders’ visit to Srinagar

Rahul Gandhi and 11 other opposition leaders had gone to take stock of the situation in the Jammu and Kashmir after the removal of the key provisions of Article 370. Senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, KC Venugopal, Anand Sharma, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi, CPI’s D Raja, NCP’s Majeed Menon, RJD’s Manoj Jha, JDS’s Kupinder Reddy and Sharad Yadav went. Significantly, the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satyapal Malik, invited Rahul Gandhi to visit Kashmir.