'Guided tour rubs salt into wounds of badly bruised populace': Tewari on envoys' J-K tour

Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari on Tuesday took a dig over a group of envoys being on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, saying the ''guided tour is a joke'' and ''rubs salt into the wounds'' of a badly bruised populace.

He also said that while foreigners can go there, a joint parliamentary committee and opposition leaders can't go.

A group of envoys, including those from several European Union countries and a few OIC member states, began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.

''Foreigners (Firangis) can go but a Joint Parliamentary Committee & Opposition leaders can't go. This guided tour is a joke. Rubs salt into the wounds of a badly bruised populace,'' Tewari tweeted, tagging a media report on the envoy's visit to the Union Territory.

The envoys which has representation from four Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) -- Malaysia, Bangladesh, Senegal and Tajikistan -- were taken to Magam in central Kashmir amid heightened security arrangements in the city and elsewhere in the Valley, officials said here.

The delegation of 24 envoys also visited the historic Hazratbal shrine on the banks of Dal Lake on the first day of their visit to Jammu and Kashmir.