Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Apr 3: Former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi cannot win the hearts of Kashmiris by using guns.
Addressing an election rally in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district, Azad said: “Modi wants to win the hearts of Kashmiris with the gun. Nobody can win hearts with the help of the gun. There was one in Germany who used guns but ended up killing himself”.
The Congress leader sought reasons behind the worsening of situation in Kashmir. “What is the reason that the situation (in Jammu and Kashmir) which had improved by 2014 has again worsened like 1990-91,” he asked.
He said that it is the PM Modi who is responsible for this. “If any single person is responsible for this, it is the Prime Minister of this country, Narendra Modi”, he said.
“If different voices have risen in Kashmir, BJP is responsible for it as they have made such situations here which has pushed people to the corner. Leaders’ voices have been choked by threatening them and leaders have been forced to make different statements. The Prime Minister should look into himself and take responsibility”, Azad said.
“When I was Chief Minister of the State, the round table conferences started for the first time. It was a big initiative and all the regional parties except Hurriyat took part in those conferences. No less than Prime Minister presided over these round tables. We made a massive effort to normalize the situation and took the people of the State into confidence”, he said.
The Congress leader said that Modi made hollow promises. “The atmosphere we are living in is hostile. People were shown dreams that overseas there is lot of money which belongs to India, and when I will become the Prime Minister, I will get that money back within a month, the amount he used to talk about was Rs 12 lakh crores, but nothing came back”, he said.
Azad said that India is under dictatorship for last 5 years. “We are living in the atmosphere of dictatorship and the people of India should know that for the last 5 years, we are living under the dictatorship”, he said.
“The Prime Minister is responsible for statements of all the leaders. Saying that our alliance is making such statements makes me wonder how much control does he has on his tongue? His leaders have been abusing the people of the minority. His own Governor has made such statement. What action has he taken? For the last five years, the leaders have been hurling invectives against the people, particularly Muslims. What action has he taken?” he asked.
He said that democracy in India ended with the end of Congress rule. “Democracy vanished with the end of Congress’ tenure. There is not a single opposition party in the country who were not threatened and CBI filed cases against them. PDP was spared, but if he comes back, they will also have to face the music”, he said.
“Farooq Abdullah didn’t dance on his tunes; there is a CBI case against him, even against Sonia, Rahul Gandhi there are cases,” he said.
Azad said that there was peace in South Kashmir and now situation under Modi rule has deteriorated. “There was peace in the entire South Kashmir, now what is the condition of South Kashmir under the rule of Modi. I know people in Jammu and Kashmir Police how they staged an encounter just for the sake of promotion, and when I unearthed the graves, we came to know that it was staged. I started the investigation into the matter and we came to know that three local labourers were picked up and killed, labeled as Pakistanis”, he said.
The Congress leader said that they lauded security forces but punished those who were guilty. “While we helped the forces and even lauded them, those who were involved in such crimes were equally punished”, he said.
“Our manifesto is inclusive. I have been in the working group committee for the last 35 years. For the last 35 years, Congress has never made such exhaustive manifesto. First, a manifesto committee was made under the leadership of Chidambaram. Nearly 20 leaders took six months and traveled across the length and breadth of the country to form the manifesto. They talked to different people of the society including farmers, students, and entrepreneurs. They took one month to form the final draft wherein different sections of society were consolidated”, Azad said.
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