Rahul, Azad condemn arrest of Congress leaders in J&K

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad condemned the arrest of the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and senior leader Ravinder Sharma in Jammu on Friday.

"I strongly condemn the arrest of our J&K PCC Chief, Shri Ghulam Ahmed Mir & spokesperson, Shri Ravinder Sharma in Jammu today. With this unprovoked action against a national political party, the Govt has delivered democracy another body blow. When will this madness end?," Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

The Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress was prevented from addressing a press conference on Friday as police detained its



chief spokesperson and former MLC Sharma at the party headquarters in Jammu.

Mir was put under house arrest in Jammu in the afternoon.

Azad said while the state and central governments were asserting that the situation was normal in Jammu and people were celebrating the Centre's decision to abrogate the constitutional provisions that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, opposition leaders were not even being allowed to address press conferences.

"This double speak of the government has exposed it on a number of occasions," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister added.