The BJP on Monday charged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with “speaking the language of separatists”
Referring to his interview to CNN-IBN , party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said some of the statements made by the Chief Minister were provocative.
Asked whether the government should have ensured that the family of Afzal Guru was informed ahead of his execution and facilitated a meeting, Mr. Javadekar said he was picking only “serious issues.”
“We deeply condemn his interview” because it struck a chord with the terrorist “who attacked Indian Parliament and the idea of India,” and was condemned to death eight years ago,
“So, to raise the issue of discrimination or [make] some other references is nothing but provoking the situation in the Valley. At least the Chief Minister should not do this,” the BJP leader said.
Mr. Javadekar wanted the Congress to spell out its position on Mr. Abdullah’s interview as his National Conference is part of the United Progressive Alliance. The Congress had a responsibility to respond to what Mr. Abdullah said.
Mr. Javadekar said the Chief Minister also challenged the Supreme Court’s verdict by claiming that the judgment “depended on circumstantial evidence and the [death] sentence was awarded to satisfy the collective conscience of society,” while conveniently skipping the portion where the court said “there was not even a shred of doubt about Afzal’s complicity in the hatching of the criminal conspiracy to attack Parliament and evidence showed that he had actively participated in its execution.”
More serious was Mr. Abdullah’s claim that “the new generation in Kashmir will identify with Afzal Guru,” Mr. Javadekar said, adding “Kashmiri youth today identify themselves with cricketer Shami Ahmad and IAS topper Shah Faizal” and not with a terrorist.
