A day after Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik offered to arrange an aircraft for Rahul Gandhi to visit the Valley, the Congress leader Tuesday said he will take up his invitation but requested the “freedom to travel and meet the people, mainstream leaders and our soldiers stationed there.”
“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,” Gandhi said in a tweet.
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. https://t.co/9VjQUmgu8u
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2019
Earlier, Malik had hit out at Gandhi over his remarks that there were reports of violence in the Valley saying that the latter should feel ashamed of one of his leaders who spoke like an ‘idiot’ in the Parliament.
ALSO READ: Former PM Manmohan Singh files nomination for Rajya Sabha by-poll from Rajasthan
“I have invited Rahul Gandhi to come here. I will send you a plane, to observe (the situation) and then speak up. You are a responsible person and you should not speak like this,” Malik had said.
“Foreign press has made an attempt (of wrong reportage) and we have warned them. All hospitals are open for you and if even a single person has been hit by a bullet, prove it. But only four people were hit by pellets in legs when there was violence by youths and there were no serious injuries to anyone,” he had further added.
Why only @RahulGandhi, Governor Sahib? On behalf of @incIndia i had asked in Lok Sabha for an all-party delegation to be invited to J&K to see the #Kashmir situation for ourselves! Do arrange such a trip instead of grandstanding: https://t.co/U6BWrLmTvh
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 13, 2019
Earlier this morning, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had asked an invitation for an all-party delegation to Jammu and Kashmir. “Why only @RahulGandhi, Governor Sahib? On behalf of @incIndia i had asked in Lok Sabha for an all-party delegation to be invited to J&K to see the #Kashmir situation for ourselves! Do arrange such a trip instead of grandstanding,” he wrote on Twitter.