New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday returned to Delhi after he was stopped at the Srinagar airport and said that the condition in the Valley is worse than what it was during the 1965 and 1971 wars as the people have been locked in their homes following a curfew in most of the districts.
He said he left for Srinagar along with Jammu and Kashmir party chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir, but were stopped at the Srinagar airport with senior officials saying they have orders not to permit them to enter the city.
Slamming the government over the curfew in the state, the former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister said, "When a flight enters Kashmir it flies low, from Qazigund to Srinagar for over 80 km stretch. On that 80 km stretch, I cannot find a single vehicle during my journey. We have seen wars in 1965, 1971 and then in 1999 when vehicles plied on highways and other roads of the state."
Speaking to the ETV Bharat, Azad said people in Jammu and Kashmir are not free to discuss politics.
"They imposed a curfew, jailed the ex-chief ministers of the state and sent me back without entering the state," he said.
"Bringing out three-four people on the streets by offering something is not the reality," he added, flaying National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
He said the passengers who met him at the airport said no one could come out of their homes neither they could visit other people.
On Wednesday, Doval was seen having lunch with local residents, apparently in a bid to show that normalcy was slowly returning to the Valley.
Doval was in Kashmir to assess the security situation in the state, which was put under curfew hours ahead of the government's announcement. All communication, including the Internet and telephone connections, have been suspended.
