New Delhi: Former Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad, while addressing a gathering in South Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Thursday, implored terrorists in the region to lay down their arms, saying that guns don’t solve anything and only add to destruction and misery.
Since his resignation from the Congress, Azad has spoken at several rallies in Jammu and Kashmir in the run-up to the launch of his own party, expected to come within a week’s time.
While speaking at the event in Anantnag on Thursday, September 15, Azad blamed Pakistan for the terrorism in the North Indian Union Territory, calling India’s western neighbour a “defeatist state” and alleging that it is “hell-bent on causing destruction” in Kashmir and in India at large.
Asking the youth not to engage in militancy, Azad said, “Picking up guns is not a solution. It only brings destruction in your life, to your family and to the country.”
While on the topic of terrorism, Azad also said that he was aware of the death threats against him issued by the ‘Resistance Front’, an off-shoot of the banned militant organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), for his perceived proximity to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership.
While saying that he is not afraid, Azad denied the reports that he had met Union home minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval before coming to the Anantnag event.
“I have never met Doval in my life. I swear by god. Yes, I have met Shah as he is the home minister and I was in parliament. It was part of my work. I meet people from various parties,” Hindustan Times quoted him as saying.
Public meeting of South Kashmir at district HQ Anantnag, J&K. pic.twitter.com/09L1WQvLRo
— Ghulam Nabi Azad (@ghulamnazad) September 15, 2022
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Anantnag has seen numerous terrorist encounters in the past and is considered a hotbed for terrorist activity. Yet, the crowd at the event was enthusiastic and pledged support for Azad’s next political foray, according to a report by NDTV.
Also read: Will Announce New Party in 10 Days, Fight for Restoration of Statehood: Azad
After being a member of the Congress for 35 years, Azad resigned from all party posts on August 26 this year. In a scathing, five-page letter to interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Azad had chalked up the reason for his departure to mismanagement and autocratic rule within the party, particularly targeting Rahul Gandhi for the party’s poor performance in recent years.
In the letter, he had also intimated his decision to start a new party in Jammu and Kashmir. In solidarity with Azad, over 50 congress leaders from Jammu had also resigned.
While he was offered support at the present rally, Azad has been facing criticism from some corners of the Union Territory for his stance on the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave Jammu and Kashmir its former special status, among other things.
At previous rallies, too, Azad has noted that the restoration of Article 370 is not possible for regional parties and only a government that has a two-thirds majority in parliament can achieve that. Therefore, he said he would not promise the same to the voters. He reiterated this fact in Anantnag on Thursday.
Also read: Why Is Ghulam Nabi Azad Toeing BJP’s Line on Article 370 in J&K?
Alternatively, he said, relief may be granted by the Supreme Court. But he noted that in the three years since the Union government read down the Article in 2019, the top court has not taken up the matter.
Instead, Azad told the crowd that his future party would focus on the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the creation of jobs and land rights for locals.
He told the audience that he could fight the election by promising independence for the state, or self-rule, but is not doing that because these promises cannot be kept. “A foolhardy who smashes his head with mountain will end up breaking his own head, not the mountain,” he said.
As The Wire has reported previously, Azad came under heavy criticism from Opposition politicians and parties in the erstwhile state for allegedly “toeing” the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) line on Article 370.
