NEW DELHI: Authorities on Sunday defended blocking opposition Indian politicians from visiting Muslim-majority 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 criticized by the main opposition Congress party over the contentious move on August 5 that brings Kashmir — which has waged an armed rebellion against Indian control since 1989 — 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 Kashmir.
But a video released by Congress showed Gandhi questioning officials about why he was stopped from entering Kashmir’s main city of 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 the 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 goodwill but that he then politicized the issue.
The controversy came as key separatist 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 organize peaceful protests and demonstrations in their areas of residence,” top separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani said in a statement obtained by AFP.
The Hurriyat Conference, which supports Kashmir’s right to choose whether it wants to be part of India or Pakistan, added that Pakistan and the wider Muslim community should “come forward to ... help the besieged people.”
The call came as India’s home affairs ministry refuted a report by India’s News18 television on Sunday that the region was running out of lifesaving medicines, saying supplies were “slightly higher than the monthly average.”
India defends blocking politicians from visiting Kashmir
India defends blocking politicians from visiting Kashmir
- If everything is normal, asks opposition’s Rahul Gandhi, why are Congress leaders not allowed in Jammu and Kashmir
- Hurriyat Conference has released its first official comment since the clampdown, calling for locals to resist New Delhi’s move
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
