Members of European Parliament Team Briefed Ongoing J&K Situation

Opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury and Asaduddin Owaisi slam government’s move

Srinagar: Amid heightened tension due to sporadic incidents of violence and shutdown, a delegation of Members of European Parliament (MEPs) reached here on Tuesday to gauge the local situation and met various groups.

It is the first foreign delegation to visit Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5.

After checking into at a five-star hotel here, the MEPs were taken to the Army’s 15 Corps headquarters at Badami Bagh where top army commanders briefed them about the situation in Kashmir.

The delegation had lunch at the 15 Corps HQ.

Afterward, they later met delegations of the Janata Dal-United and the Bharatiya Janata Party, representatives of panches and the sarpanches from the Valley, as well as some of the newly-elected Block Development Commission members.

The MEPs then took a ‘shikara’ ride on the Dal Lake, for about 20 minutes, before returning to their hotel. The Chief Secretary is hosting a dinner for them.

A press conference for selected journalists may be held on Wednesday.

The MEPs have come under criticism after it emerged that several of them belonged to right-wing parties in Italy, France, and Germany.

Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s daughter, Iltija Mufti, who operates her mother’s Twitter account, posted: “Reports of stone-pelting & massive shutdown in Srinagar today. Wondering what outcome GOI expected by sending a group of mostly right-leaning Islamophobic EUMPs to Kashmir? Were you expecting nine million oppressed Kashmiris to lay out a red carpet for them?”

“To justify a hare-brained disruptive decision, India’s democratic credentials are being sullied internationally.” (IANS)

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