Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul dares Amit Shah to walk from Jammu to Kashmir

As he concluded his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar on Sunday (January 29), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi dared Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other BJP leaders to “walk from Jammu to Kashmir” and ascertain for themselves the ground realities of strife-torn Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to questions on claims repeatedly made by Shah and sundry BJP leaders about the restive Kashmir Valley having turned peaceful ever since the Centre abrogated Article 370 on August 5, 2019, Rahul wondered, “If the situation is so good, why doesn’t Mr Amit Shah walk from Jammu to Kashmir?”

Gandhi said he had met countless people from J&K as well as from Ladakh through the course of the final leg of the yatra, which entered Jammu through the Lakhanpur border on January 19 and will formally conclude on Monday (January 30) in Srinagar. He said people informed him of the mounting socio-economic and political challenges that they continued to face. “There are targeted killings happening here, there are bomb blasts happening; how is the situation good?” Rahul asked. He added that J&K, like the rest of the country, was also grappling with crippling unemployment levels and rising prices.

To unfurl Tricolour at Congress HQ

Sunday’s yatra through Srinagar marked the end of the foot march that began from Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari on September 7 last year and has now covered 4080 kilometres over the past 136 days. On Monday, Rahul will hoist the national flag at the Congress party’s J&K headquarters on Maulana Azad Road in Srinagar and also address a public rally at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium where the entire senior leadership of the Congress is expected to be present along with members of over a dozen Opposition parties.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rows, spars and barbs kept spotlight on Rahul-led march

Projecting Rahul as Modi’s alternative

At the rally, which is estimated to draw a crowd of over 30,000 people despite security restrictions, Rahul will reiterate his clarion call for unity and brotherhood across the country to combat the BJP’s “divisive and communal politics”. What is likely to trigger greater scrutiny though is the number of Opposition parties which send their representatives to attend what is essentially an all-out projection of Rahul as a national alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in next year’s general elections.

No word on rebooting Bharat Jodo Yatra

However, Rahul refused to get drawn into any discussion on his next political steps. He adroitly skirted questions on whether he would, in the course of time, reboot the Bharat Jodo Yatra to cover the breadth of India from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh considering that his current padyatra through 12 states on the linear trajectory from Tamil Nadu to J&K had left large parts of the country untouched.

“This yatra has just ended so it is premature to answer questions (whether there will be another east to west yatra). This yatra was from the south to the north but it has had an effect and impact across the country. I have some ideas (about what to do next) but we’ll see,” Rahul said. The former Congress chief asserted that a gulf had been created between India’s political class, “be it the Congress, BJP or any other party” and the common citizens and that the BJY was “only a small step” towards bridging this gap.

Watch: Rahul Gandhi’s eventful Bharat Jodo Yatra | Key events

‘Most fulfilling experience of my life’

Terming the yatra as the “most fulfilling experience” of his life, Rahul also sought to invoke his ancestral bond with J&K. “In some ways, my family descended from J&K and went to Allahabad. In a way, while coming to J&K, I felt I was doing a reverse journey; I felt I was going home. I have come here with an open heart and with open arms. I was humbled by the reception we got both in Jammu and in Kashmir,” Rahul said. However, he added that he was “not happy with what I see in J&K” and that he “walked with sadness through J&K” because of the problems and challenges that the current state of affairs present for the Union Territory.

Backs restoration of J&K’s statehood

Rahul once again batted for restoration of statehood and democratic process in J&K as “a first step to address the challenges” facing the UT. The Wayanad MP, however, avoided tricky questions on whether a lasting solution to Kashmir’s problems can be found merely by restoring its statehood while shutting out a dialogue process with separatist leaders or the regime in Pakistan. “Restoration of statehood and democratic process is fundamental… I don’t wish to comment now on the steps that come after that,” Rahul said.

Seeks solution for Ladakh

The Wayanad MP demanded that “an appropriate solution must also be found for Ladakh”, which was carved out of J&K as a separate Union Territory without an Assembly after the reading down of Article 370. The Ladakhi people have been demanding the status of a Schedule VI Union Territory under the Constitution, alleging that the current constitutional status of Ladakh doesn’t offer any democratic recourse for their grievances.

Also read: Bharat Jodo Yatra temporarily suspended due to security concerns

Takes jibe at Modi over Chinese transgression

Considering that Ladakh has been the epicentre of Chinese transgressions on Indian territory over the past two years, Rahul also used his final press conference of the BJY to take potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has consistently denied that India has ceded territory to China.

“The PM is frankly the only person in this country who is under the impression that China has not taken any land from India,” Rahul said, claiming that several Army personnel as well as Ladakh residents he had met through the course of his yatra maintained that “2000 square kilometres of Indian territory has been taken over by the Chinese… many of our patrolling points are also now firmly in Chinese hands”.

Rahul added that the approach of the Modi government of denying that the Chinese had usurped Indian Territory “is a dangerous approach” which will “give China the confidence of doing even more aggressive things.”