Rahul Gandhi skips Article 370 mention in his fiery J&K speech

SRINAGAR:  In his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called for free and fair elections and restoration of statehood to J&K, but steered clear of any mention of the August 5, 2019, decision that led to the state’s bifurcation.

Asserting that Congress has a clear position on J&K, he said, “Full statehood to J&K should be restored and free and fair elections held.”

He, however, did not make any direct reference to the revocation of Article 370 and also did not seek any constitutional guarantees to safeguard jobs and land of J&K residents, as demanded by other parties.

Vowing to fight Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s divisive ideology and defeat BJP’s ideology of violence and hate, he said: “People in J&K are sad and in pain. I am with you. My family must have drunk water from river Jhelum and Kashmiriyat (culture and thought process) must be in me, too. My message is that I want relation of love and respect with you. Whatever you can do with love and respect, you cannot achieve it with hate and violence.”

He was addressing the Congress workers at the party’s newly-constructed headquarters in Srinagar.

“When Congress-led government was ruling the country, we held panchayat elections, introduced schemes for youth, invited industrialists here and also took youth outside J&K to integrate them. The same process of integration is under attack now,” Rahul said.

Taking a dig at Centre for downgrading and bifurcating J&K state into two Union Territories, he said, “Many UTs have been given status of state but J&K was downgraded and bifurcated into two UTs.”

Rahul said they are not allowed to speak in Parliament.

“I wanted to raise issues of Pegasus, Rafale, unemployment, J&K, corruption, but was not allowed. They are attacking democratic and judicial institutions,” he said.