Centre's move to regulate foreign scribes' visit to Valley 'oppressive': Hurriyat

Moderate Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq today said the Centre's decision, asking foreign journalists to seek prior permission for visiting Kashmir, as an "oppressive" step aimed at hiding the ground realities of the Valley.

"The Government of India's decision of barring the entry of foreign journalists to Kashmir is another oppressive step aimed at hiding the exact ground realities and the ultimate oppression unleashed by lakhs of Indian forces, before the world community," a spokesperson for the Hurriyat said in a statement.

He said the move was also tantamount to keep the world community in dark about the "people's sentiment, aspirations and the struggle for genuine movement in Kashmir".

The spokesperson said the directive to keep entry of the foreign journalists in Kashmir subject to the clearance of security agencies "amounts to censorship and the step is highly dictatorial in nature".