Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday slammed the National Conference (NC) and accused the party of sympathising with the terrorists. Singh further questioned Omar Abdullah over his remarks on Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru’s execution and questioned him “if Afzal Guru should have been garlanded”.
Referring to Omar Abdullah’s recent comment on Afzal Guru, Singh, while addressing a public rally in Ramban district, questioned, “The National Conference has shown sympathy towards terrorists. I recently heard what Omar Abdullah said, that Afzal Guru should not have been hanged. I want to ask him, should Afzal Guru have been garlanded instead?”
The Union minister further added that once BJP forms government in Jammu and Kashmir, it will carry out development works in the region. In addition to this, Singh asked the residents of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to come and join India, stating, “We consider you as our own unlike Pakistan which treats you as foreigners”.
“I want to tell PoK residents that Pakistan is considering you foreigner but the people in India do no consider you as such. We consider you as our own and so come and join us,” he added.
The Defence Minister also came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370.
Omar Abdullah’s ‘No Purpose Served’ Remark Sparks Row
Sparking a massive row, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in his recent remarks stated that the execution of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru, convicted in the 2001 Parliament attack, did not serve any purpose. He further clarified that the Jammu and Kashmir government had no involvement in the process, but Abdullah’s remarks soon attracted sharp criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“I don’t believe that any purpose was served by executing him (Afzal Guru),” Abdullah said in an interview with news agency ANI.
He added that if state approval had been required, it would not have been granted. “The unfortunate thing was that the J&K government had nothing to do with Afzal Guru’s execution. Otherwise, you would have had to do it with the permission of the state government, which I can tell you in no uncertain terms would not have been forthcoming. We wouldn’t have done it.”
J&K Polls In 3 Phases
The Assembly polls will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1, with results on October 8.
This is the first election in the erstwhile state after its special status under Article 370 of the Constitution was revoked and it was bifurcated into two Union territories.
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