Union Minister for Urban Development and Information & Broadcasting M. Venkaiah Naidu has come down heavily against Congress leader and former Union home minister P. Chidambaram for his comments on the Kashmir issue and termed them as “shocking and irresponsible utterances bordering anti-national”.
Reacting to the comments of Mr. Chidambaram made while delivering a talk here on Friday in which he stated that Kashmir was nearly lost because the BJP government at the Centre was using brute force to quell dissent in the Valley, Mr. Naidu said such comments were not expected from a person who held the portfolio of Home and it was all the more reprehensible as “he was well acquainted with the complexities involved in tackling insurgency”.
Encouraging terrorism
Mr. Naidu said such irresponsible statement would tantamount to promoting separatism and encouraging terrorism. “His statement could be music to the ears of our neighbour who is aiding, abetting, funding and training terrorism,” the Union Minister said addressing a press conference here on Saturday. It could also embolden Pakistan which had been trying its best to internationalise the Kashmir issue, he observed.
Stating that Muslims in the Valley have helped in organising pooja at a temple near Srinagar on the occasion of Shivaratri on Friday, the Union Minister mentioned that specially designed greetings were also sent to Kashmiri Pundits as a gesture of comradrie and bonding.
Party stand
Further, Mr. Naidu pointed out that thousands of people attending the funeral of Lance Naik Mohiuddin, who was killed in an ambush by terrorists in Shopian, was also an indication how the people in the Valley have concern for the sacrifices made by the Army for protecting their motherland. The two incidents had taken place in the State where terrorist activities were praised in the recent past, he said.
He sought to know where was the correlation between Mr. Chidambaram’s comments that seven million Kashmiri people were feeling alienated and the two incidents. He also demanded that the Congress party react to Mr. Chidambaram’s comments stating whether it was the official version of the party and said the BJP-led Government at the Centre was trying set right the mishandling of the Kashmiri issue by the Congress all theses years.
On Mr. Chidambaram’s claim that that the electoral successes of BJP in the recent past would not mean that people supported demonetisation, Mr. Naidu said it would again reflect the immaturity of a “failed economist”.
He sought to know what was the yardstick for support or opposition in democracy and said it was numbers.
The fresh electoral results in Maharashtra clearly indicated that in spite of demonetisation people were solidly backing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
