Authorities on Sunday defended blocking opposition Indian politicians from visiting Muslim-majority occupied Kashmir, saying it was to "avoid controversy" weeks after stripping the restive region of its autonomy and imposing a major clampdown. India's Hindu-nationalist government has been criticised by the main opposition Congress party over the contentious move on August 5 that brings occupied Kashmir under its direct rule. The region remains under strict lockdown with movement limited and many phone and internet services cut, although authorities say they have been easing restrictions gradually.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, still a key figure in India as a scion of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, was earlier invited by local governor Satya Pal Malik to visit occupied Kashmir. But video released by Congress showed Gandhi questioning officials about why he was stopped from entering occupied Srinagar at the airport on Saturday.
"The governor has said I'm invited. He has invited me so I have come but you're saying I can't go," he said.
"And government is saying everything is OK, everything is normal. So if everything is normal, why are we not allowed out? It is a bit surprising." Regional police chief Dilbagh Singh told AFP police supported the decision.
"In an environment that is getting to normalcy, we didn't want any controversial statement from anyone. That's why they were asked to return from the airport itself," Singh said. Malik told the ANI news agency he invited Gandhi out of good will but that he then politicised the issue.
The controversy came as key Kashmiri group Hurriyat Conference, a coalition of local political parties, released its first official comments since the clampdown and called for locals to "resist at this critical juncture" New Delhi's move. "Each and every person must face the naked Indian brutality with courage... People should organise peaceful protests and demonstrations in their areas of residence," top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani said in a statement obtained by AFP.
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