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Congress out of sync with its J&K unit on Kashmir
NEW DELHI: Statements by the Congress and the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit are at variance with each other of late, betraying a disconnect.
NEW DELHI: Statements by the Congress and the party’s Jammu and Kashmir unit are at variance with each other of late, betraying a disconnect.
When the Uri ambush happened on Sunday, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) condemned it, with party president Sonia Gandhi expressing “shock and deep distress over the martyrdom of Indian soldiers in the dastardly terrorist attack”.
Minutes later, the J&K Congress, too, came out with a statement — but not on Uri. The state unit condemned the killing of a teenager and the pellet attack on a mentally-challenged person in Srinagar.
Demanding an immediate probe into the killing of the pellet-struck teenager, the J&K Congress also blamed the forces for “seriously injuring a mentally-retarded person” and termed it “an attack on humanity”.
Terming the “innocent killings and injuries to thousands as the cause behind the extremely volatile situation” in the Valley, a state party spokesperson demanded that security personnel involved be punished.
Perhaps local political compulsions are driving the J&K Congress to change or issue differing statements from those released by the AICC.
Prior to this, on July 28, the state unit quoted Gandhi having expressed “anguish” over the loss of lives in clashes between protesters and security forces in Kashmir, and urged people to “shun the path of confrontation and embrace peace”.
