On 8th September, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slammed the National Conference and accused the party of showing sympathy for terrorists. Rajnath questioned former CM of Jammu and Kashmir and NC leader Omar Abdullah if terrorist Afzal Guru should have been garlanded. The reaction came to a statement made by Abdullah, where he had criticised the hanging of Guru for his involvement in the 2001 Parliament attack.
नेशनल कांफ्रेंस के लीडर उमर अब्दुला ने कहा है कि संसद पर हमला करने के मास्टर मांइड अफजल गुरू को फांसी नहीं होनी चाहिए थी। उनसे पूछिए, लोकतंत्र के मंदिर पर हमला कराने के मास्ट माइंड अफजल गुरू को फांसी नहीं तो क्या सार्वजनिक रूप से माला पहनानी चाहिए थी? pic.twitter.com/HmPEgpyn77
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 8, 2024
The minister said, “The National Conference has shown sympathy towards terrorists. I recently heard what Omar Abdullah said, that Afzal Guru should not have been hanged. I want to ask him, should Afzal Guru have been garlanded instead?” He added, “National Conference has been talking about restoring Article 370, but in the last five years, 40,000 jobs have been created.”
Rajnath Singh was addressing a public rally in district Ramban. The polling in the district is scheduled for the first phase of polling for Assembly Elections on 18th September. He said, “Once our government is formed in Jammu and Kashmir, we will carry out development that will make the people of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) want to become part of India,” while seeking support for the formation of a BJP government in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also gave a message for the people of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and said that while Pakistan considers them as foreigners, India considers them its own. He said, “The additional solicitor general of Pakistan has said that POK is foreign land. I want to tell the people of POK that while Pakistan considers you foreigners, India regards you as its own.”
पाकिस्तान की सरकार पीओके को foreign land मानती है लेकिन भारत पीओके को अपना मानता है… pic.twitter.com/dYg4fxYsaT
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 8, 2024
Omar Abdullah criticised hanging of Afzal Guru
Omar Abdullah earlier criticised hanging of Afzal Guru and said that the Jammu and Kashmir government had no involvement in the process. He stated that if state approval had been required, it would not have been granted. “The unfortunate thing was that the J-K government had nothing to do with Afzal Guru’s execution. Otherwise, you would have had to do it with the permission of the state government, which I can tell you in no uncertain terms would not have been forthcoming. We wouldn’t have done it. I don’t believe that any purpose was served by executing him,” Abdullah said.
Assembly Elections in Jammu and Kashmir
Assembly polls in the Union territory will be held in three phases on 18th September 25th September and 1st October. There are a total number of 90 assembly constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, out of which 7 seats are reserved for SCs and 9 seats are reserved for STs. According to the Election Commission of India, Jammu and Kashmir has 88.06 lakh eligible electors. These are the first assembly elections to be held in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
