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

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.

Our spokesperson in J&K Shri Ravinder Sharma was illegally arrested while conducting a press conference. And so was the PCC chief Shri Ghulam Ahmed Mir. We condemn this dictatorial move by the Modi Govt & demand that they be released immediately.#StopIllegalArrestsInKashmir pic.twitter.com/fOorQ45C7b

— Congress (@INCIndia) August 16, 2019

"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?," Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

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? https://t.co/1z3e7qHCDE

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 16, 2019

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.

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Ghulam Ahmed 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.

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