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Something very wrong: Congress on EU MP's visit to J&K

Last Updated 29 October 2019, 06:53 IST

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday took potshots at the Modi government for taking European Parliamentarians on a tour of Jammu and Kashmir.

“This nationalism is unique. You allow European Parliamentarians to tour and intervene in Kashmir, but send back Indian leaders from the airport itself,” Priyanka said on Twitter.

On Monday, Congress had termed as an insult to Indian Parliamentary democracy the government move to facilitate the visit of a group of Members of the European Parliament to Kashmir.

“MPs from Europe are welcome to go on a guided tour of Jammu & Kashmir while Indian MPs are banned & denied entry. There is something very wrong with that,” former Congress President Rahul Gandhi said on Monday.

Congress Spokesperson Anand Sharma said that he would raise this issue in the Parliament. He further said that India's decision violates the collective privileges of its MPs. " Inviting EU lawmakers to JK is the "ultimate disrespect" to Indian Parliament's sovereignty," Sharma added.

Randeep Surjewala, Congress Chief spokesperson also slammed the government. He said, "By allowing EU MPs to visit Kashmir and not allowing Indian MPs in the valley is an insult to India's Parliament."

He said Jammu and Kashmir belong to India and "we will deal with it". But he asked why the foreign MPs were made stakeholders in Kashmir.

"Jammu and Kashmir belongs to us, then how did those from European Union come. It is our matter and we will handle it. But, why did Modiji make European Union as Kashmir's stakeholder? While MPs of other countries have the right to visit Kashmir, why do our own not have that right? This Modi government's fake nationalism is an insult to Parliament," he alleged in a tweet in Hindi.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh too asked why the "chest-beating champion of nationalism", an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has allowed European leaders to visit JK.

Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had attacked the Congress for criticising its decision to strip J&K of its special status under Article 370, accusing the opposition of toeing the line of Pakistan. Modi and Shah had insisted that Kashmir was India’s internal matter.

Congress and other opposition leaders recalled how senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sitaram Yechury and Rahul Gandhi were sent back from the Srinagar airport, denying them permission to enter the Kashmir valley. Azad and Yechury sought Supreme Court intervention to visit Kashmir.

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(Published 29 October 2019, 04:15 IST)

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