SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president Tariq Hameed Karra on Saturday led a protest outside the party headquarters in Jammu against a BJP poster that he alleged sought to associate Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other INDIA bloc leaders with militancy.
Karra said the BJP’s JK unit had displayed photographs of Gandhi, Yadav and leaders of other INDIA bloc parties above photographs of people identified as alleged terrorists, which he claimed was intended to create an impression of links between the opposition leaders and militancy.
Addressing reporters during the protest at Shaheedi Chowk, Karra said the Congress would continue raising public issues through its ongoing “Chaupal Pe Charcha” outreach programme across Jammu. The programme has focused on demands including restoration of statehood, unemployment, recruitment issues, rising prices and other public grievances.
Scores of Congress workers and senior leaders, including JKPCC working president Raman Bhalla, participated in the demonstration and raised slogans against the BJP and the central government.
Karra suggested that the BJP’s action could have been prompted by the growing reach of the Congress outreach programme or could represent an attempt to shift public attention away from broader issues.
He also questioned the BJP’s claims of nationalism, referring to the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight and the subsequent release of jailed terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, in Afghanistan. Karra alleged that the then BJP-led government’s handling of the crisis had contributed to the militancy-related situation subsequently faced by the country.
Defending Rahul Gandhi’s political legacy, Karra said the Congress leader belonged to a family in which two former prime ministers had died in connection with the country’s security and unity.
Karra further alleged that the BJP and its predecessors had not played a comparable role in India’s freedom struggle and accused them of siding with the British. He challenged the BJP to identify figures from its political tradition who, he said, had made comparable sacrifices during the freedom movement.
The JKPCC president also referred to alleged links between BJP figures and people whom he described as having associations with militancy, naming Ilyas Khan and Talib Hussain, who he said had been arrested by security forces in Jammu and Kashmir.
Karra said the Congress would continue its protests across Jammu and Kashmir against what he termed the BJP’s “politics of hatred” and attempts to divert attention from public concerns.
