A group of European Union MPs visited Jammu and Kashmir today with the opposition raising questions about foreign lawmakers being allowed in the state when Indian political leaders had been barred or turned away from the airport. This is the first such international visit since the government ended special status to Jammu and Kashmir and split it into two union territories in August.
The MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Monday. Four of the 27 lawmakers dropped out of the Kashmir visit amid the backlash.
The lawmakers are mainly from far-right parties; only three of the 27 MPs belong to the Left or liberal parties. All of them are visiting India in their private capacity.
Visuals showed the group driving through heavily guarded Srinagar, their drive taking them past four detention facilities where dozens of politicians including three former chief ministers have been detained.
The EU MPs were taken to the Army Headquarters, where they were briefed on the security situation. They also met members of the BJP.
But many alleged that no prominent civil society group, trade body or mainstream Kashmiri political party could meet the delegation.
2 MPs of National Conference say they were blocked from meeting the group.
The visit ended with a trip to Dal Lake, Srinagar’s most prominent tourist draw. The MPs were seen taking a boat ride.
“It is a good opportunity for us to go into Kashmir as a foreign delegation and be able to see firsthand for ourselves what’s happening on the ground,” European Parliament member Nathan Gill had told news agency ANI in the morning, before taking the flight to Srinagar.
Thierry Mariani, a Euro MP for France’s far-right National Rally, was quoted as telling Agence France-Presse (AFP), “we are going to see the situation in Kashmir, at least what they want to show us”.
A European MP, Theresa Griffin, tweeted the group does not officially speak for the European parliament. “To be absolutely clear – the group of far-right MEPs currently visiting #Kashmir are not in any way an “official” delegation. They do not speak for the European Parliament. The shutdown in Kashmir must be ended and constitutional rule of law restored,” she tweeted.
Another MP, Chris Davis, claimed he was dropped from the trip because he asked for unfettered access in Kashmir. The Liberal Democrat MP said he had asked to be allowed to move around without security escort and speak to anyone, to make his own assessment about the situation. “I am not prepared to take part in a PR stunt for the Modi government and pretend that all is well. It is very clear that democratic principles are being subverted in Kashmir, and the world needs to start taking notice,” Mr Davies said.
AFP reported yesterday that the European parliament and European Union hierarchy were not involved in this visit.
After the MPs met PM Modi yesterday, a statement from his office said, “Their visit to Jammu and Kashmir should give the delegation a better understanding of the cultural and religious diversity of the region of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh; apart from giving them a clear view of the development and governance priorities of the region.”
Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi have slammed the visit. The Congress leader, who was turned away from the Srinagar airport in August, tweeted: “MPs from Europe are welcome to go on a guided tour of Jammu and Kashmir while Indian MPs are banned and denied entry. There is something very wrong with that.”
