Kashmir is burning, but the heat is not reaching central govt: Congress

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition, Ghulam Nabi Azad hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to make any statement on the ongoing Kashmir unrest in the Parliament on Wednesday.

“Prime Minister Modi tweets on events across the world, but he was silent on Kashmir crisis. When something happens in Africa, the Prime Minister tweets about it. But when the Taj of India is burning, the heat is not reaching the central government,” Azad said.

“We did not hear Prime Minister’s statement on Dalit issues here in the Parliament. We got to hear about his views from Telangana. We have been repetitively demanding that the PM should come and make statements on such issues,” Azad added.

He also attacked Modi for quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Madhya Pradesh, when he touched upon the topic of Kashmir.

“Vajpayee’s words do not suit Prime Minister Modi,” said Azad on Modi’s assertion that his government believes in Vajpayee’s mantra of ‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat’.

The Congress leader said that an All Party Delegation needs to be formed to be sent to J&K and that it should be announced in the Parliament.

“Everyone in Kashmir is a victim of militancy. Many of us have lost their near and dear ones due to this militancy in Kashmir. There is a difference between communalism and separatism,” Azad added.

Azad said that law and order is not the sole responsibility of Kashmir police but that paramilitary forces are also involved in the matter.

“You call J&K an integral part of India, but there needs to be integration of the heart. Between people of India & J&K,” Azad said.

Referring to Modi’s comment that all Indians love Kashmir, the Congress leader said, “One should not love Kashmir for its beauty and nature alone. One should love people out there as well.”

“Love the people who live there. Love the children who lost their vision due to pellet injuries…,” he said while insisting on a political solution.

Talking about the 33-day-old unrest, Azad said things are not flowing from democracy but through the barrel of “guns, pellet guns”.

He said there has been curfew for the last 33 days and thousands of people including civilians and security forces have been injured in the violence.

The problem in Kashmir is not a “normal law and order issue” like in any other state, Azad said, while underlining that the Centre should come forward to help the state as it is dependent on New Delhi for everything, including security, development and even salaries.

While talking about the continuing problem of Kashmir, he said a lot needs to be done to strengthen the relationship between the Centre and the state.

He wondered what happened to reports of various committees, including one headed by late Justice Shabir Ahmed, which made several recommendations for strengthening the integration.

“The report was submitted in 2009-10. Still nothing has been done,” he said.

Earlier, Azad associated himself with the views of BSP leader Satish Mishra on Dalit issue and took a jibe on the Prime Minister for making statement on the issue from Telangana and not in Parliament.

Modi on Tuesday had reached out to the people of Kashmir and indicated his willingness to hold dialogue under the framework of the ‘Insaniyat (humanity), Jamhuriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat’.

He said that when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the prime minister, he had adopted the path of ‘Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat’ and the present government walks the same road.

PTI