Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday condemned the arrest of Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief Ghulam Ahmed Mir and spokesperson Ravinder Sharma. He said that the government has delivered democracy another body blow with the unprovoked action against Congress. “I strongly condemn the arrest of our J&K PCC Chief, Shri Ghulam Ahmed Mir & spokesperson, Shri Ravinder Sharma in Jammu today. With this unprovoked action against a national political party, the Govt has delivered democracy another body blow. When will this madness end?” Gandhi said in a tweet.

Hours after the grand old party leaders were arrested, the Congress hit back at the Centre and said: “The widespread illegal arrests in Jammu and Kashmir by the Modi government show that civil liberties and democratic processes have no place in this government’s dictionary.”

Congress Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad also condemned the state government’s action of arresting Ravindra Sharma and “taking him to some undisclosed location”. “…this action of the state govt is in total violation of any democratic norms,” he said. “On one side the State and Central Govt are asserting that Jammu is normal and people are celebrating, while at the same time the leaders of opposition parties are not even allowed to address the press conferences,” Azad said in a statement.

The state was placed under curfew hours before the central government revoked the provisions of special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. Today, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam said that most phone lines in Kashmir will be restored over the weekend and schools will reopen next week. In a press conference, the top state official said that the offices of the Valley functioned normally on Friday and the attendance in many offices was ‘quite high’.