NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday launched a sharp attack on the central government over the panic among migrant and Pandit communities in the Valley after a string of targeted killings of civilians in the Valley, saying the Centre would have been able to keep the situation under control if it had a sensitive and “all-inclusive” take on the Kashmir issue.
“If you are truly connected with the pain of the public and want to wipe off their tears, then you would address their issues seriously,” Rajya Sabha MP and senior Congress leader Vivek Tankha said at a media briefing on Friday.
Tankha said there was a lack of statesmanship in addressing the issues related to the Kashmir Valley.
Referring to the exodus of Kashmiri pandits in the early 1990s, the Congress leader said there was no reason that the situation created 30 years ago should have been repeated when things are in control of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, a swipe at the BJP which has for decades held the Congress responsible for the exodus in the 1990s.
The sharp attack comes against the backdrop of the killing of civilians in Jammu and Kashmir - 12 have been killed by terrorists since March - that has reminded members of the migrant and Pandit communities about the exodus from Kashmir in the 1990s.
Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees deputed in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s package for the rehabilitation of the community in 2008 have been boycotting work and holding sit-in protests across Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}Hundreds of Kashmiri Pandit employees deputed in the Valley under the Prime Minister’s package for the rehabilitation of the community in 2008 have been boycotting work and holding sit-in protests across Kashmir.
{{/usCountry}}Bank employee Vijay Kumar’s killing by terrorists on Thursday triggered another round of exits of migrant Hindu and Kashmiri Pandit workers and their families from the Valley. “Even government offices are not secure. I would want today to be the last day of these killings,” he said.
Tankha said there was no attempt by the BJP government to reach out to stakeholders, something that should have been done if the government wanted peace and amity in J&K.
The Congress also took a swipe at PM Modi. “Our Prime Minister tweets for every small event, I wish he also tweets for Kashmir,” he said, urging the Centre to take concrete steps and remain sensitive to those affected.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot also criticised the NDA government for what it described as the Centre’s ‘failure” to restore peace in Kashmir.
“The NDA government has failed to restore peace in Kashmir. The central government should ensure the safety of citizens in Kashmir. Such killing of our citizens by terrorists will not be tolerated,” Gehlot said, according to an ANI report.