Hyderabad: Slamming the Congress for incorrectly labelling Jammu and Kashmir as “India occupied Kashmir” in its booklet, Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said people would never forgive the party for such a mindset. In a major gaffe, the Congress yesterday released a booklet with an incorrect map of the country. Page 12 of the 16-page booklet titled ‘Rashtriya Suraksha par Aanch’, which was distributed by the Congress, showed the entire state labelled as “Indian Occupied Kashmir” in the context of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The incident occurred during a conference of the opposition party in Lucknow to highlight the shortcomings of the Narendra Modi government during its three years of rule. “While the people of the country were celebrating three years of a new India in the making, the Congress party came out with an official publication that described India as having occupied Kashmir and thereby conceding Kashmir to Pakistan,” Naidu told reporters in Hyderabad. He noted that the Congress had recently asked the central government to come out with a final solution over Kashmir.
“Perhaps, the final solution they have in mind is that let Kashmir be given to Pakistan so that we all live in peace. This mindset has been reflected in their official booklet released in Lucknow yesterday,” the information and broadcasting minister said. “Is it for this that hundreds of our brave soldiers have given up their lives over the years defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity?” he asked. “People can never forgive the Congress for this mindset which is now a part of their official publication,” the senior BJP leader said.
PTI