Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accepted the invitation of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik to visit Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, but made two requests.
Dear Governor Malik,
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2019
A delegation of opposition leaders & I will take you up on your gracious invitation to visit J&K and Ladakh.
We won’t need an aircraft but please ensure us the freedom to travel & meet the people, mainstream leaders and our soldiers stationed over there. https://t.co/9VjQUmgu8u
Rahul tweeted, “Dear Governor Malik, A delegation of opposition leaders & I will take you up on your gracious invitation to visit J&K and Ladakh. We won’t need an aircraft but please ensure us the freedom to travel & meet the people, mainstream leaders and our soldiers stationed over there.”
The response from Rahul came after Malik had criticised him for his comments that there had been violence in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370. Speaking on Monday, Malik said, “I have invited Rahul Gandhi to come here. I will send you a plane, to observe (the situation) and then speak up. You (Rahul) are a responsible person and you should not speak like this.”
Malik was responding to Rahul's statements on Saturday and Sunday about media reports claiming there was violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul had tweeted “I urge the Govt. to take urgent steps to ensure the safety of every citizen in J&K and to lift the veil of secrecy.”
Last week, senior opposition leaders including Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress and Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M) had alleged access was being restricted to them when they arrived in Srinagar.
