Opposition, press facing brute force in J&K: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said Opposition leaders and the press had got a taste of the current "draconian administration" in Jammu and Kashmir.

In a tweet, the former Congress President said: "It has been 20 days since the people of Jammu and Kashmir had their freedom and civil liberties curtailed."

A delegation of Opposition leaders, including Gandhi, had earlier expressed its intent to visit the Valley to gain first-hand experience of the situation following the abrogation of Article 370. The leaders, however, were not allowed by state administration officials to leave the Srinagar airport when they arrived there on August 24.

Gandhi insisted with the officials that he had come at the invitation of the Governor, and even suggested the group could split up and the members could visit the Valley individually. The officials, however, did not budge, leaving the leaders no other option but to return to the national capital.

Gandhi later also tweeted that the Opposition and the press had got a taste of the "draconian administration" and "brute force" unleashed on the people of Jammu and Kashmir, when they tried to visit Srinagar on Saturday.

Gandhi has also published video footage of his discussions with the local authorities. One of the officials read out the order issued on the movement of the delegation of Opposition leaders.

Gandhi in a video alleged that mediapersons accompanying the delegation were mishandled and beaten up, and claimed it is clear that things are not normal in Jammu and Kashmir.

The delegation included Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and K.C. Venugopal, CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury, Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Sharad Yadav (LJD), Dinesh Trivedi (TMC), D.S. Raja (CPI), Majeed Menon (NCP), Manoj Jha (RJD) and D. Kupendra Reddy JD(S).