Bharat Jodo Yatra: Rahul vows to fight for J&K statehood

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi received a grand welcome as he entered Jammu on Monday, and immediately vowed to work to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and for the betterment of Kashmir Pandits.

A massive crowd welcomed Rahul with slogans of “Nafrat Chodo, Bharat Jodo” (Shed Hatred, Unite India) as he and his supporters crossed Bari Brahmana at Parmandal in Jammu, marking the entry to the winter capital.

The march started from Sambas Vijaypur along the Jammu-Pathankot highway at around 7 am on Monday.

The demand for statehood is Jammu and Kashmir’s biggest issue and the Congress will use “our full power” to get it reinstated, Rahul told a gathering at the Satwari Chowk.

Unemployment issue

The Congress MP pointed out that Jammu and Kashmir had the highest level of unemployment in the country. “The Congress will fully support you and your statehood (demand). To reinstate statehood, the Congress will use our full power,” he said. “Statehood is your biggest issue. There is no big issue as big as statehood. Your right has been snatched,” he added.

Rahul said people had told him that their voices were not being heard by the Jammu and Kashmir administration. “The entire trade is being run by outsiders and people of J&K watch them sitting haplessly,” he said.

‘No work in Kashmir’

Rahul said that youngsters in Jammu and Kahsmir aspire to become engineers, doctors and lawyers but they cannot find jobs. “There was another way (to get employment) earlier. It was with the Army. It has also been closed now by a new scheme, called Agniveer, introduced by BJP. That path is also now closed,” he said.

Earlier in Samba, Rahul, who walked with his trademark white T-shirt braving the early morning chill, was cheered by a large number of people massed on both sides of the road. He shook hands with many, much to the concern of the security personnel.

Rahul also asked J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha to apologise to the Pandit community for saying that employees of the Prime Minister’s package must not seek alms.

Pandits complain

Rahul said this after a Kashmiri Pandit delegation called on him in Samba district. They told him about targeted killings by terrorists and protests by those employed under the Prime Minister’s package. “Injustice is being meted to Kashmir Pandits by this government,” he said.

Rahul, who began his nationwide march from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, is scheduled to hoist the national flag at the Congress headquarters on September 30 to mark the end of the yatra.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has stepped up security for the yatra.

Congress leaders

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal, AICC spokesman Jairam Ramesh and Jammu and Kashmir Congress leaders walked with Rahul on the yatra’s 129th day. Numerous Congress activists and supporters joined the march, waving the tricolour.

A large delegation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by General Secretary S Amreet Singh Reen joined the yatra as well. “We have come to support Gandhi who is moving with a message to strengthen the unity and remove hatred in the country,” PDP leader Firdous Ahmad Tak said.

Security  beefed up

Security was increased across the Union Territory in the wake of two bomb blasts in Narwal area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Saturday which injured nine people.

In August 2019, the NDA government revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and divided it into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

With agency inputs