Indian MP’s Barred, But EU Delegation Allowed, Congress Slams Government Move To Allow EU Delegation To Visit J&K

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The Congress party has questioned the government for allowing European Parliament members to visit Jammu and Kashmir but preventing Indian leaders from doing so, claiming it was an insult to India’s democracy and “ultimate disrespect” to its sovereignty.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said the party would raise the issue in Parliament as, he added, the government decision violates the collective privileges of Indian MPs. Inviting EU lawmakers to Jammu and Kashmir is the “ultimate disrespect” to Indian Parliament’s sovereignty, Sharma added.

Shashi Tharoor , Congress leader and three- time Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, too slammed the government in a tweet  as he wrote , “My request, made during the Lok Sabha debate on Article 370, for an All-Party delegation of MPs to visit to see the situation for themselves, has still not been accepted. But members of the European Parliament can travel as our Government’s guests? What an Insult to Indian Democracy.”

But Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked why the “chest-beating champion of nationalism”, an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has allowed European leaders to visit Jammu and Kashmir.

“When Indian political leaders have been prevented from meeting the people of Jammu and Kashmir, what possessed the great chest-beating champion of nationalism to allow European politicians to visit Jammu and Kashmir. This is an outright insult to India’s own Parliament and our democracy,” he tweeted.

Sharma said this government has maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is India’s internal affair “but it has contradicted itself in its eagerness to grab headlines and embarrassed India”. This stand of the government is self-defeating and contradicts its consistent position that JK is India’s internal matter. Is this the new version of Indian nationalism,” he asked.

The deputy leader of Congress in Rajya Sabha said even the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, of which he is the chairman, is yet to be briefed by the government on the JK situation.

“But it has chosen to roll out a red carpet to the EU MPs. This matter will be raised in Parliament and the government will be held to account,” he said. Sharma said when a delegation of Indian MPs and politicians went to Srinagar, they were detained and so was the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad.

“We were not allowed to meet any resident, community organisation representatives or ordinary citizens, but were detained at the airport,” he said.