The BJP on Friday launched an all-out attack on the Congress for the statements made by its leaders on Jammu and Kashmir. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said they were “in sync with the terrorists and their patrons.”
He was referring to an assertion by the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and former J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, in an interview to a TV channel, that the “Indian Army was killing more civilians than terrorists” in the State.
Mr. Prasad termed it “irresponsible, shameful and deeply regrettable.” The Congress leadership must clarify what action they were planning against Mr. Azad. “The statement is shocking also because Mr. Azad, as a former Chief Minister, has seen the brutal face of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the State,” he said.
LeT statement
After Mr. Azad’s remarks, Mr. Prasad said, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had issued a statement that they “have been of the same opinion as the ones expressed by Ghulam Nabi Azad and others.”
“Today, what the Congress leaders are saying is being supported by the LeT. What kind of politics is this? Congress is standing with those who are trying to break the country,” he said. “The Congress of today led by Rahul Gandhi and blessed by Sonia ji is designed to make observations and behave in sync with the terrorists and their patrons.” Such statements, he said, demoralised the armed forces at the forefront of the war against terrorists.
Giving statistics, Mr. Prasad said 72 terrorists were killed by the armed forces in 2012 and 67 were killed in 2013. “In 2014, when our government came, 110 terrorists were killed. In 2015, over 108 terrorists were killed, in 2016, 150 terrorists were killed, in 2017 over 217 and till May this year over 75 terrorists have been killed in the State.”
