SRINAGAR: Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly and BJP state president, Suvendu Adhikari, has sparked fresh controversy by urging Bengalis not to visit “Muslim-majority” areas in Jammu and Kashmir, following the recent terror incident in Pahalgam.
“Don’t go to Muslim-majority areas,” Adhikari said during a public interaction on Friday. “If you want to visit Jammu Kashmir, go to Jammu. Otherwise, go to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha—there are plenty of places to travel. In Pahalgam, they asked tourists their religion before killing them,” he said.
Yesterday, Smt. @MamataOfficial met CM @OmarAbdullah and urged people to visit Jammu & Kashmir. But @BJP4India leaders like @SuvenduWB are openly discouraging people from visiting J&K.
The terrorists attacked Pahalgam to paralyse Kashmir’s economy, and Suvendu is handing them… pic.twitter.com/1Rl8sfxMBA
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) July 11, 2025
However, BJP leadrer’s comments have been widely criticised. “The terrorists attacked Pahalgam to paralyse Kashmir’s economy, and Suvendu is handing them exactly what they wanted. It is a disgraceful, calculated act of communal provocation. This is the very same BJP that wants ‘secular’ erased from the Constitution. Such statements have no place in a democratic country. We will not let BJP burn bridges between Indians. Not in Kashmir. Not in Bengal. Not anywhere”, Trinamool Congress (TMC) posted on ‘X’.
His controversial remarks came a day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah met his West Bengal Counterpart, Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata where both of them agreed to revieve tourism in Kashmir vale. Banerjee also urged people of West Bengal to continue visiting the picturesque region.
It is pertinent to mention that, tourism sector in Jammu and Kashmir has been severly hit after terrorists opened fire and killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam town of Jammu and Kashmir on April 22.
