Separatists lied about blockade: Jaitley

The BJP has accused the separatists in J&K of spreading false propaganda about the highway connecting Srinagar and Jammu being blocked due to the agitation over the land issue.

The BJP has accused the separatists in Jammu and Kashmir of spreading false propaganda about the highway connecting Srinagar and Jammu being blocked due to the agitation over the Amarnath land issue and attacked the government for "not countering" these claims.

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Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley claimed that there was no such "blockade" in the state as claimed by the separatists but admitted there was "disruption" on the Highway for a day.

"The separatists lied to the whole country, to the whole world saying that Hindu colonalisation will come up in the Valley...The separatists lied to the world saying there is an economic blockade.

"There was nobody in the valley, not even the state government or the Central government which countered that propaganda," Jaitely told Karan Thapar in "Devil's Advocate" programme of CNN-IBN.

Noting that BJP was the only party which countered the separtists' claim, he said, "We are the ones who are saying that the land transfer is pursuant to a direction of the High Court and why it should be implemented."

The BJP leadership and senior leaders of the Punjab government personally intervened and said protest on any road, but not on national highway, he added.