They should not disturb the gradual restoration of normal life, it says

The J&K government on Saturday said it had denied entry to a joint delegation of Opposition members, headed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, to Srinagar “to avoid any inconvenience to people here” and ensure “no violations of the restrictions were committed”.

Government spokesman Rohit Kansal said the administration’s position was made clear in advance to avoid visiting to J&K.

“At a time when the government is trying to protect people of J&K from the threat of cross-border terrorism and the attacks by militants and separatists, no attempts should be made by senior political leaders to disturb the gradual restoration of the normal life,” said Mr. Kansal.

He requested the political leaders “to cooperate and not visit Srinagar”.

“They would be putting other people to inconvenience and also violating restrictions still in place in many areas. The government’s top priority remains public order, peace and preventing the loss of life,” he said.

Mr. Gandhi and other senior Opposition leaders including Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) chief Sharad Yadav, Dinesh Trivedi, CPI leader D. Raja and Majid Memon, arrived in a flight from Delhi around 2 p.m. at the Srinagar airport. They were asked to board a Delhi-bound flight immediately after they disembarked here, an official said.