Rahul Gandhi asks PM Modi to come clean on reports of violence in Jammu and Kashmir

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has demanded from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assuage the country and tell the nation exactly what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh. Speaking to reporters on Saturday night after the Congress Working Committee’s meeting in Delhi, Rahul noted that there are some reports of violence in Jammu and Kashmir following the government’s decision to scrap Article 370 and split the state into two UTs.

The Congress, he said, is very concerned about the reports and the government needs to assuage the country and tell the nation exactly what is happening in the border state and be completely transparent.

“There are reports of violence, there are reports of people dying in Jammu and Kashmir, so, we stopped our deliberations of the Congress president issue and we had a presentation on what was going on in Jammu and Kashmir. Now it is very important that the Government of India and the Prime Minister make it very clear and transparent on what exactly is happening in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh,” Rahul told reporters.

The Congress’ top decision making body CWC, which met twice on Saturday to Rahul’s successor, also passed a resolution on Jammu and Kashmir. The CWC resolution expressed serious concern over the situation and called for permitting a delegation of opposition parties in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The Congress Working Committee (CWC) also expressed serious concern about arrest and detention of entire political leadership in Jammu and Kashmir,” the resolution said.

Earlier, Rahul had said that the CWC was briefly stopped due to some reports “that things in Jammu and Kashmir are going very wrong”.

“I was called just now by the CWC because some reports have come in that some things are going very wrong in Jammu and Kashmir, there is violence and people are dying there. So we stopped our deliberation on the Congress president issue and we have a presentation on what was going in Jammu and Kashmir,” Rahul who was not part of the deliberations on the leadership issue during the second CWC meet on Saturday, said.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday night said the situation was peaceful and no untoward incident has been reported in last one week. Dilbagh Singh told PTI that minor stone-pelting incidents were reported which was dealt with on the spot and was nipped in the bud.

The Srinagar Police also tweeted that the situation was peaceful, minutes after Rahul claimed that the situation has deteriorated.

“Situation in the Valley has remained normal today. No untoward incident has been reported. At selective locations restriction was lifted temporarily,” it said.

The Modi government had earlier this week revoked the provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and bifurcated the state into Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir division and Ladakh. The Congress party had voted against the Modi government’s move in the Parliament. However, several non-NDA parties had supported the BJP in the Parliament at the time of voting.