Anantnag: Former legislator and National Conference leader Altaf Ahmad Kaloo was reportedly not allowed to board a flight to Dubai flight on Thursday and detained for four hours at Delhi airport.
Speaking with ‘Kashmir Images’ over telephone from Delhi, Kaloo said that just before the flight was scheduled to depart from Delhi airport around 8 pm, he was stopped by emigration authorities. Kaloo claimed that the authorities informed him that politicians from J&K have been barred from travelling outside the country and that this ban on them continues till March 2021.
The NC leader was scheduled to attend a family event in Dubai.
He said he was detained for many hours at the airport. “I was released only after I many phone calls, and informed people as to why I was being detained and not being allowed to travel,” he added.
“I reached the airport in the afternoon. Upon reaching the immigration counter, I was escorted to a room on the pretext that there was some error in my passport,” Kaloo, who represented Pahalgam assembly seat, said.
For nearly three hours, he said there was no clarity as to why he was stopped.
“I convinced my family to go ahead while I requested the immigration officials to give me some clarity. After nearly three hours, my passport was handed over and I had to return to my accommodation in Delhi,” he said.
“Thanks to the authorities, I am left with no luggage as it took off with my family. After I was released by the authorities, I had to buy some clothes for myself,” Kaloo said.
“Don’t know why they detained me and barred me from travelling,” he said, adding if the politicians of Kashmir are banned from travelling abroad, they should have been informed about it.
“It is an insult, and against our basic rights,” he said.
Meanwhile, detailing on the same incident, PTI quoting official sources reported from New Delhi that as many as 33 politicians of Jammu and Kashmir have been named in a list that bars them from travelling abroad.
They said that the names of former chief ministers Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti are not in the list, which has mostly former legislators and former ministers from various political parties.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration had handed over a list of around 37 people post-August 05 last year when the special status of the erstwhile state was abrogated and it was converted into two union territories.
The list at that time contained names of political leaders from National Conference, PDP, People’s Conference including Ali Mohammed Sagar, Abdul Rahim Rather, Nayeem Akhtar, Sajad Gani Lone his brother Bilal Lone, Basharat Bukhari among others.
The list was initially valid for three months after which it was validated further after a review, the sources said.
It was, however, pruned and the number came down to 33 after some of leaders, who formed Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party including its chief Altaf Bukhari, were taken off from the look-out notice. (With PTI inputs)
