India: Opposition leaders denied entry into Srinagar

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) - Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on Friday stopped Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders from entering Srinagar, the capital of the disputed region.

Sitaram Yechury, party's secretary general and D Raja, party's chief, were sent back to New Delhi from Srinagar airport after a brief detention, said other party leaders.

The two leaders had been on their way to Srinagar to meet their state party leaders following a 5-day-lockdown in the Muslim-majority region.

"They showed us a legal order which did not allow any entry into Srinagar. It stated that even escorted movement into the city was not permitted due to security reasons. We are still trying to negotiate with them," Yechury told news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).

Yechury and Raja were then sent back to New Delhi.

On Thursday, they had approached Satya Pal Malik, the state's governor, and requested their entry.

"Both of us had written to the J&K governor requesting him that there should be no hurdles for our visit," Yechury told PTI.

In a later statement, the party termed the act as "anti-democratic", adding that the act showed the "authoritarian face" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the leader of opposition in Indian Parliament, was also not allowed to enter Srinagar on Thursday.

Meanwhile, some local media reports claimed that restrictions were eased in a limited range to allow people in the valley to offer Friday prayers, following an earlier statement from the security authority, but Anadolu Agency could not verify the report independently, as all means of connection to the region are still cut off.

Security forces were put on high alert in order to prevent possible protests by local people.

Over 500 prominent political workers and leaders, including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti, have been detained in Jammu and Kashmir since the provisions of Article 370 were revoked this Monday, and the state was divided into two "Union Territories".

The special provisions, under which the state agreed to become part of the Indian union in 1947, allowed it to enact its own laws and prevented outsiders to settle and own land in the territory, and helped protect its Muslim character in a Hindu majority country.

Kashmiri leaders and citizens fear this step is an attempt by the Indian government to change demography of the Muslim-majority state, where some groups have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

As the crackdown in Kashmir intensifies, some 300 people were arrested by the Indian police, while some Kashmiri prisoners have been airlifted to India’s Uttar Pradesh province, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported.

Reports of sporadic protests have also been coming in, however, Anadolu Agency could not reach its correspondent in the region to confirm the reports as Internet, cell phones and landline phones have been blocked. In some parts, cable television has also been cut off.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.