Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said Kashmiriyat is the foundation of India and currently it is under a severe assault not only in Jammu and Kashmir but throughout the country.
Rahul, who was on two days visit to Kashmir, was addressing a rally of Congress activists while inaugurating the new office building of the party in Srinagar. Interestingly, Ghulam Nabi Azad, who was leading the G-23 of disenchanted Congress leaders, shared the dais with Rahul and both were seen discussing certain points with each other.
Congressmen and women cheered as Rahul arrived at the party office.
Rahul said his party has a clear stand on Jammu and Kashmir and called for restoration of J&K’s statehood and conducting assembly elections.
Referring to the suggestion of Ghulam Nabi Azad to raise the issue of restoration of statehood in the parliament, Rahul said but in the parliament they won’t allow us to raise it. We are being shouted down there, Rahul said. “In the parliament, we are not allowed to raise the issues of Pegasus spying, Corruption, Rafale and Jammu and Kashmir. The government is assaulting every institution of the county, he alleged.
In a dig at the media, Rahul said “the media don’t write the truth. They are being suppressed and threatened. They fear if they write something, they might lose their job. I call them brothers but they don’t fulfill their responsibility.”
He said Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Bengal are facing BJP’s assault. He said concept of India based on the democratic structure is under attack. In the rest of the country, it is under indirect attack but J&K is facing direct attack.
“I know that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are in pain and saddened. But I want to convey to you that I want to have a relation with you, relations based on dignity and love. I fight against Narendra Modi and we will continue to fight against the ideology of Narendra Modi, which is divisive and violent. We will fight against this ideology and we will beat it”, he said.
This was Rahul’s first visit to Srinagar after the Artiucle 370 was scrapped in August 2019. He said he tried to reach out to the people of the valley but was not allowed to proceed beyond the Srinagar airport and was sent back to Delhi.
He described his visit as homecoming and said before Delhi, my family was living in Allahabad and before that they were living in Kashmir. “I understand your feelings. My family has taken the water of Jhelum. Your customs and your thinking which we call kashmiriyat is also in me,” he said.
Rahul also visited the famous Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar and the Kheer Bhawani temple in Ganderbal. He posted images of his visit to the shrine on Instagram and said: “Prayed for peace and brotherhood at Hazratbal Dargah. The biggest strength of our country is our unity – there is no place for hate and fear here.”
Earlier, Azad, PCC chief GA Mir and other leaders also spoke. Veteran party leader Saifuddin Soz was also present.