'Crimes in J-K by govt cannot be absolved by envoys'

No "red carpet" welcome to envoys can absolve the government of crimes they have committed in Jammu and Kashmir, the CPI said on Thursday, hitting out at the Centre over the visit of ambassadors to the region while denying entry to its own MPs post nullification of Article 370.

Envoys from 15 countries, including United States Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster, arrived in Srinagar on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the first by diplomats since August last year when the erstwhile state's special status was revoked and it was divided into two union territories.

"Earlier the government had allowed some MPs of European Parliament with affiliations to right wing parties. Why is the government doing this? They are not allowing its own MPs to visit the region but allowing them. If everything is normal in Jammu and Kashmir then why is Farooq Abdullah still not free?" asked CPI general secretary D Raja.

He further said that if Kashmir had been normalised then the first delegation to go there should have been of Indian parliamentarians in order to assure the country that everything was fine.

"What the government has done is disrespected the Indian Parliament, its political parties, its people and its democracy. While the government is saying that everything is normal there, the region, in reality, is under siege. We demand that if the situation is normal then every political detainee should be released immediately.

"No red carpet welcome to some envoys can absolve the government of crimes they have committed in Jammu and Kashmir," Raja alleged.