Rahul's detention at Srinagar airport exposed fascist face of India: FM Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said that Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi‘s detention at Srinagar airport had exposed the fascist face of India, ARY News reported

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, FM Qureshi said that Rahul Gandhi along with 11 leaders of other opposition parties had arrived at Srinagar airport to observe the real situation in occupied Kashmir.

He feared mass murder and genocide in occupied Kashmir and added that New Delhi cut the region off from the rest of the world by shutting down internet and telephone services.

FM Qureshi said that it was the real face of so-called largest democracy in the world.  He said that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also expressed concerns over deteriorating situation in occupied Kashmir.

He urged the UN secretary general and UN Commissioner for Human Rights to visit occupied Kashmir to observe the Indian atrocities and grave human rights violation in the valley.

The foreign minister said that tension between Pakistan and India over Kashmir issue were threat to regional peace. He said war between the two nuclear powers was tantamount to mutual suicide.

FM Qureshi said he had talked to his counterparts of many countries and all have stressed the need to address the issue peacefully.

He said the recent session of Security Council was the acknowledgement of severity of the issue. Qureshi said Indian media was propagating the false news of an alleged terrorist attack from Pakistan to divert the attention of world community from the core issue of Kashmir.

He said, “We had already conveyed the danger of this propaganda in our letter written to the president of the Security Council.”

Read More: Rahul Gandhi, other Indian opposition leaders not allowed to visit Srinagar

Earlier in the day, Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and 11 other opposition leaders were sent back to Delhi after they landed at Srinagar airport, Indian media had said.

Restrictions had been imposed in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir since the Modi government withdrew its special status earlier this month.

Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were the other senior Congress leaders other than Rahul Gandhi who flew to occupied Kashmir.

Mr Azad had been stopped twice at Srinagar airport, most recently on Tuesday, and was “forcibly” sent back to Delhi both times.