Yashwant Sinha-led delegation manages to meet Farooq Abdullah's brother and sister: ANC

A five-member delegation led by former Union minister Yashwant Sinha met National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal and Awami National Conference president Khaleda Shah who are under house arrest since August 5, the ANC said in a statement on Monday.

Kamal and Shah were the only prominent mainstream political leaders who the delegation was able to meet during their four-day visit to the Valley that ended on Monday.

Citing security reasons, the police did not allow Sinha and his delegation to venture outside Srinagar, the ANC said.

They were also denied permission to meet other politicians, currently under detention, it added.

After a 20-minute heated argument with the police, the authorities on Saturday night allowed Sinha and his team to meet ANC president Begum Khalida Shah, ANC senior vice-president Muzaffar Shah and NC additional general secretary Mustafa Kamal, who have been under continued detention since August 5 at their residences near M A Road in Srinagar, the statement said.

Khalida Shah is the sister of NC president and Srinagar MP Farooq Abdullah, while Kamal is his brother.

The ANC said the visiting delegation was apprised by the detained leaders of the ground situation in J&K following the Centre's unilateral decision to revoke the special status of erstwhile state by nullifying Article 370 splitting the state into two Union territories.

The decision is unacceptable to the overwhelming majority of people in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, it said.

The party said the leaders emphasised upon the urgency of restoring the Fundamental Rights of the people of Kashmir and immediate release of the three former chief ministers -- Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti -- and other detained leaders, besides several youths lodged in jails in and outside J&K.