Radio Pakistan used Rahul Gandhi’s tweet to write that ‘national integration is not furthered by unilaterally tearing apart Jammu and Kashmir, imprisoning elected representatives and violating the Constitution’
On Tuesday, Radio Pakistan used former Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Congress Leader of Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury to attack India.
Radio Pakistan used Rahul Gandhi’s tweet to write that ‘national integration is not furthered by unilaterally tearing apart Jammu and Kashmir, imprisoning elected representatives and violating the Constitution’
National integration is not furthered by unilaterally tearing apart #JammuandKashmir, imprisoning elected representatives and violating Constitution: @RahulGandhi https://t.co/LNFQlwFipp@MoIB_Official @INCIndia
— Radio Pakistan (@RadioPakistan) August 6, 2019
They also raked up Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s gaffe in Lok Sabha where the Cong leader asked: “You say that it is an internal matter, but it is being monitored since 1948 by the UN, is that an internal matter? We signed the Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration, was that an internal matter or bilateral?"
Incidentally, leader of Congress’ Parliamentary Party Sonia Gandhi was displeased with Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s faux paus and looked horrified when he made the utterance sitting next to her.
1. Adhir defends himself after storm
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Caught in a storm over his remarks in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to wriggle out of his statement that Kashmir is not an internal issue of India saying the region has been under intenational attention for long.
"If anybody wants to manufacture controversy, then I don't have anything to say on it. What I have said inside the Parliament is on record. But I would request all the concerned media persons and government also that they should divide everything in its entirety.
"They should not indulge in cut and paste policy. Since 1948, Kashmir has been under the monitoring mechanism of the United Nations. So,in the wake of bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir state, what should be the stand and status of our country and also Jammu and Kashmir?" he told ANI after his remarks in the Lok Sabha created flutters in political circles.
The Congress MP from Behrampur in West Bengal said that Kashmir has always been under international attention.
2. Adhir says he sought a clarificaiton
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"I simply sought clarification from the government but they are manufacturing my clarification. I simply express my regret on it. Kashmir has always been under the attention of the international forum. If Kashmir issue is so easy, why should this govt yesterday address the embassy people (diplomats) of various countries? I simply sought a clarification from the government," he added.
Raising a query over the status of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), he said "In this parliament in 1994, we adopted a resolution that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir has to be restored. It has to be brought into the ambit of our country. Now once Jammu and Kashmir has been bifurcated, what shall be the status of PoK?
He said the government has not mentioned anything about PoK in the Bill.
Questioning India's long-established position, the Congress leader earlier in the day threw a shocker in the Lok Sabha, asking how was Kashmir issue an "internal matter" if "United Nations is monitoring it since 1948."
3. What Rahul Gandhi said
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In a show of solidarity with the political leaders of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi termed their arrest on the orders of the Central government as an "unconstitutional and undemocratic" step and demanded their release.
"Kashmir's mainstream political leaders have been jailed at secret locations. This is unconstitutional and undemocratic," Gandhi tweeted.
The Congress had opposed the decision by the Center to revoke Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul, however, is the first politician from the Gandhi family to have reacted to the step.
In his tweet, Gandhi added that the arrest of state leaders is a "short-sighted and foolish" step, because "it will allow terrorists to fill the leadership vacuum created by GOI."
"The imprisoned leaders must be released," Gandhi demanded.
In an earlier tweet, Gandhi had termed the BJP-led government's move an "abuse of executive power" which "has grave implications for national security."
"National integration isn't furthered by unilaterally tearing apart Jammu and Kashmir, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution," his earlier tweet read.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, have opposed the Centre's move on Monday which scrapped the Article of the Constitution that conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir and barred people from the rest of the country from buying property there.
