BSP supremo Mayawati questioned the delegation of Opposition leaders which was sent back from Srinagar on Saturday, 24 August, saying that this move helped to give the central government and the Jammu & Kashmir Governor a “chance to do politics.”
Commenting on the situation in J&K, she tweeted that it will take time for the situation in the erstwhile state to normalise and that the delegation should have been more thoughtful before planning their visit.
On 5 August, soon after the Centre announced its decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution which provided special status to J&K, BSP member Satish Chandra Misra in Rajya Sabha had said that his party supported the bill. In her tweets, the BSP supremo defended her party’s support and wrote that Dr BR Ambedkar always wanted that the country should be united, which is why he was “never in favour of Article 370.”
J&K Governor SP Malik told ANI, “Rahul Gandhi has made my invitation an unending business. I had said if you don't believe us then come and visit, later he said I'll meet people under house arrest, will meet army. I said I can't accept these conditions and leave it to administration.”
Rahul Gandhi on Srinagar Visit
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday, 25 August, said leaders of the Opposition and the press got a taste of the "draconian administration" and "brute force" unleashed on the people of Jammu and Kashmir when they tried to visit Srinagar.
A delegation of Opposition leaders, including Gandhi, which wanted to visit Kashmir Valley to take stock of the situation there after the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370, was not allowed to leave Srinagar airport on Saturday by the state administration and had to return to the national capital.
The former Congress president also posted a video of Saturday's events, showing authorities reading out an order to the Opposition leaders and Gandhi addressing the media.
The video showed Gandhi alleging that mediapersons accompanying the delegation were mishandled and beaten up.
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