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Called off yatra as security measures collapsed: Rahul in Kashmir
Rahul said he had to cancel his walk for the day because police arrangements by the Jammu and Kashmir administration “unfortunately completely collapsed”
The Congress on Friday accused the government of withdrawing security personnel from around Rahul Gandhi as the Bharat Jodo Yatra reached near Qazigund in Jammu and Kashmir, and demanded action against those responsible for the alleged security breach.
Rahul said he had to cancel his walk for the day because police arrangements by the Jammu and Kashmir administration “unfortunately completely collapsed”.
He began his yatra from Banihal in Jammu region, crossed the Jawahar Tunnel into the Valley in Qazigund in a bulletproof vehicle, but could walk for barely 500 metres after that. He was asked by his security team to stop given the absence of police personnel to manage the large crowd that had gathered to receive him.
However, additional director general of police Vijay Kumar, who is in charge of security in Kashmir valley, in a statement said, “The Jammu and Kashmir Police were not consulted before the Bharat Jodo Yatra was discontinued. We will provide foolproof security (to the yatra).”
“This morning, we had quite a large crowd and reception after crossing the tunnel. We were looking forward to walking, but unfortunately police arrangement collapsed. The cops who were supposed to manage crowd were nowhere to be seen,” Rahul later said at a press conference in Anantnag.
Saying that his personal security personnel advised him against walking any further, he said, “It’s difficult to go against my security detail, so I had to cancel my walk for the day. The other yatris did walk though. It is the administration’s responsibility to guarantee crowd control and police role.”
In the morning, National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah joined Rahul at Banihal while top leaders from the party as well as the PDP were present on the national highway near Qazigund.
The yatra will resume from Chersoo in Awantipora on Saturday morning.
Congress general secretary, in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, meanwhile said, “There were small lapses earlier, but today’s was the biggest since the yatra started. The crowd was large, but the administration took it casually,”
Other Congress leaders also blamed the government for the security breach.
“The sudden withdrawal of security personnel from the D-area has caused a serious security breach at the Bharat Jodo Yatra at Banihal, Kashmir. Who ordered this? The authorities responsible must answer for this lapse & take appropriate steps to prevent such incidents in future (sic),” Congress veteran KC Venugopal tweeted.
Congress termed the security breach serious. “J&K administration failed to provide security to BharatJodoYatra... Security lapses indicate unfair and unprepared attitude of UT administration,” tweeted Rajni Patil, AICC incharge, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Former JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir, who was accompanying the yatra and is one of the J&K organisers, said, “Our security teams had given full presentation to the officials and there should have been no confusion. Unfortunately, there was mismatch and mismanagement of the security during the crowd control.”
Congress J&K president Vikar Rasool said, “Mehbooba Mufti will join the yatra at Awantipora on Saturday and Priyanka Gandhi could also participate.”
Kashmir zone police tweeted, “Only authorised persons as identified by organisers & frisked crowd was allowed inside towards the route of Yatra. Organisers & managers of BJY did not intimate about large gathering from Banihal joining the Yatra, which thronged near the starting point (sic).
“Full #security arrangements were in place including 15 Coys of CAPFs and 10 Coys of JKP, comprising of ROPs and QRTs, route domination, lateral deployment and SFs were deployed for high-ridge and other deployments,” the police said in another tweet. “#JKP was not consulted before taking any decision on discontinuation of Yatra after conducting 1 km yatra by organizers. Rest of yatra continued #peacefully. There was no security lapse at all. We will provide foolproof security,” they said.
