Srinagar: A delegation of 23 EU MPs arrived here on Tuesday for a first-hand assessment of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir to a complete shutdown and clashes between people and security forces in several parts of the city and the Valley.
A convoy of security vehicles escorted the MPs, who were travelling in bullet-proof jeeps, from the airport to their hotel where a traditional Kashmiri welcome awaited them.
The team, on a two-day visit, was briefed by senior security officials on the situation in the Valley and other parts of Jammu and Kashmir and also met delegations of the general public.
There was a complete shutdown in the city, and at least four people were injured in numerous clashes between protesters and security forces in various parts of the Valley and in Srinagar, officials said.
People put up blockades in at least five different places in Srinagar, including Downtown Srinagar and 90 Feet Road. Shops and business establishments were closed and transport off the roads due to the clashes.
Vendors, who had been setting up their stall over the past weeks, also did not turn up on Tuesday, officials said. However, board examinations for Class 10 were held on schedule with worried parents waiting outside exam halls for their children.
This 23 EU MPs are the first high-level foreign visitors to Kashmir after the August 5 decision of the Centre to revoke Jammu and Kashmir's special status under Article 370 and bifurcate the state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Meanwhile, a senior UK politician claimed on Tuesday that the Indian government withdrew with little explanation its invitation to him to be part of an EU delegation currently on a visit to Kashmir after he demanded to speak with local people without a police escort.
The Congress on Tuesday stepped up its attack on the BJP government for allowing European Union MPs to visit Kashmir while denying permission to Indian parliamentarians, and termed it a "national embarrassment".
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the BJP's nationalism is strange, allowing European MPs to visit and interfere in Kashmir while Indian MPs are sent back from the airport.
Congress senior spokesperson Anand Sharma said the government has embarked on an "ill-advised PR exercise, sponsoring individuals with questionable credentials".