New Delhi: Leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad was stopped at Jammu Airport earlier on Tuesday afternoon. He has been sent back to Delhi.
This had happened with Azad on August 8 as well, days after the Centre revoked Article 370 that gave special status to J&K. Then, he was stopped at the Srinagar airport and sent back to Delhi.
That day he was accompanied by Kashmir Congress chief Gulam Ahmed Mir and the two were detained at the Srinagar airport after landing there from a Delhi flight.
Sources had then cited security concerns for the action. Authorities did not allow political leaders to interact with Kashmiris as they felt it may add to the tension in the region following the lockdown.
Ghulam Nabi had then slammed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval over the latter’s video of interacting and eating with Kashmiris on the streets amid the ongoing lockdown. Doubting the veracity of the video, he had said, “Paise de kar aap kisi ko bhi saath le sakte ho (You can take anyone with you by giving them money).”
J&K has been facing a lockdown since August 4, a day before the Centre passed a resolution to scrap Article 370. Section 144 was imposed in Kashmir amid additional troop deployment across the state.
Life is limping back to normal with the reopening of primary schools in the Valley. All middle-level schools will be opened across Kashmir from Wednesday. Authorities said mobile
communication and Internet services were likely to remain suspended due to reports of hooliganism but more landline phones were restored on Monday.
NSA Ajit Doval met Home Minister Amit Shah after his return from the Valley. Officials said Doval spoke on the prevailing security situation in the state, and additional measures being taken to ensure that no untoward incident is reported. Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and IB chief Arvind Kumar were also present. Shah reviewed the steps taken to maintain the law and order situation in the state.
