The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came out strongly against its J&K partner – PDP’s demands of returning to Valley mortal remains of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru saying such statements could cause unrest.
Soon after reports of a note regarding Afzal Guru’s mortal remains with endorsement of nine Peoples Democratic Party leaders began doing the rounds, Ravinder Rana – BJP MLA from Nowshera told ANI, “Such statements must be avoided. It will create unrest in valley.”
BJP secretary Shrikant Sharma echoed Rana’s sentiments, and added, “Terror has no religion. We condemn this type of politics. Terrorism is an enemy of humanity and the whole country should unite to root this out. BJP believes in zero tolerance to terrorism.”
The PDP note stated that “late Afzal Guru’s hanging was travesty of justice and constitutional requirements/process was not followed.”
Engineer Rashid, Awami Ithaad Party (AIP) chief and MLA read out a press note to the media allegedly written by PDP MLA and J&K Cabinet Minister Naeem Akhtar demanding return of Guru’s remains.
Confirming the news, PDP MLA Pulwama Mohd Khalil Bandh, whose name is mentioned in the note, reiterated his demand. “Within and outside Assembly we had demanded Afzal Guru’s remains be returned,” he said.
On the second day of assuming charge of Jammu and Kashmir, the rift between alliance partners PDP and BJP widened after the saffron party disagreed with Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed’s comments made on Sunday crediting Pakistan, Hurriyat and militants for the smooth polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP’s Ram Madhav when asked about Sayeed’s comments, which rocked Parliament, said, “We attribute it (smooth polls) to three factors, the people of state, security agencies and the election commission.”