Amid a pin drop silence and complete shutdown in the Magam area of Budgam in Central Kashmir, the European delegation on a two-day visit to the Kashmir valley met various people in the Government Degree College of Magam.
Official sources told The Kashmiriyat that the European delegation met a group of selected locals, DDC Candidiates, Panchs and Sarpanchs from various parts of the Central Kashmir district. A cultural program was also organized here.
The group of Twenty-two foreign envoys, including France, Ireland, Bangladesh, and the European Union have arrived in Kashmir on Wednesday morning to “assess the situation”.
Meanwhile, DDC vice-chairperson Nazir Ahmad Jahra said that six National Conference (NC) DDC members have been put under detention at Shoray-e-Afaq while one has been kept at a local hotel. ‘Two DDC members from Peoples Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) have been kept at home and no one is being allowed to move outside.”
He alleged that only a limited number of DDC Members were allowed to meet the delegation.
A complete shutdown was observed in the Magam township on the occasion of the visit of the delegation to the Kashmir valley.
Locals told The Kashmiriyat that shops, business establishments, oil stations, educational institutes are shut in the area, while public transport and civilian movement also has been impacted to a great deal.
Paramilitary troopers were deployed at all the major points of the Highway and inside the residential areas too. “the Security has been deployed to avoid any untoward incident,” a POlice official told The Kashmiriyat.
He said that the Security was deployed as a ‘Law and order’ measure.
Some Locals from Budgam alleged that the Security cover was removed at Places on the Highway and was rather placed inside the streets to mislead the delegation. In Srinagar various bunkers were removed.
Hurriyat conference lead by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had called the visit a mere eyewash while local politicians including National Conference and People’s Democratic Party have too been not invited to meet the delegation.
Mehbooba Mufti who was detained under the Public Safety Act for fourteen months after the abrogation of the special status of Jammu Kashmir on August 05, 2019, said, “Delegations will come and go but the fact remains that the situation isn’t favorable in Jammu Kashmir.”
The former chief Minister said that “The approach of Central Government that has confined the movement of Jammu Kashmir’s leadership is not good at all. We are being caged in our own homes.”