Former chief minister Omar Abdullah was allegedly barred from a government dak bungalow and denied use of the public address system during a Ladakh outreach on Monday, prompting him to ask why China had free access to the region and he hadn’t.

Ladakh was part of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state but was carved out as a separate Union Territory in 2019. Omar, vice-president of the National Conference, was visiting Kargil in Ladakh to meet partymen.

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said Omar was stopped from entering the dak bungalow in Drass and denied access to the public address system when he tried to address workers.

Omar wondered why he faced obstacles in Ladakh and not the Chinese army. “You have China coming in. You cannot push them back,” he said.