Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on Sunday hit out at the BJP for its alleged attempt to take political mileage out of ‘Operation Sindoor’ which it said is a symbol of the bravery of the Indian armed forces.
JKPCC Chief Tariq Hameed Karra, addressing a press conference here at PCC HQ, said this while reviewing the situation all along border districts, after extensive tour of Poonch, Rajouri, Jammu, Samba borders.
Karra said that BJP leaders’ mindset is reflected in the “highly hateful” statements by the BJP Minister Vijay Shah in Madya Pradesh and another by the Deputy Chief Minister of MP Jagdish Devda, causing insult to armed forces who belong to the nation and not to one political party.
He said that people of the border districts have suffered immense damage while Poonch is the worst affected in terms of human loss.
He said all along the LOC and borders, right from Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch upto Baramula, Uri, Kupwara people have suffered in terms of damage to their houses, live stock, besides human loss or injuries.
Flanked by party Working President Raman Bhalla, Chief Spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, AICC Secretary Neeraj Kundan, Incharge HQ Ved Mahajan Ex MLC and Thakur Balbir Singh, Ex MLA, Karra said that on the first available opportunity, “We had an extensive tour of Poonch, Rajouri, Borders of Jammu, Samba to share the grief and pain of victims of Pakistan shelling”.
“Poonch has been the worst target where we visited Temples, Gurudwaras and mosques where shelling caused damages. We tried to reach out to each and every family in grief and shock,” he added.
He said this time Pakistan has targeted the civilian population which is highly condemnable and reflected the inhuman face of Pakistan.
The party has sought Martyr status for all those killed for the sake of the nation including those killed in Pahalgam and civilians killed in Pakistan shelling.
Taking a dig at the BJP, he said this government even denied martyr status to Agniveers in the country. Those who laid down their life for the nation, should be given status of martyr. Party shall take up with the government, the demand for gallantry award to JKAS officer Dr RK Thapa.
Karra said the Prime Minister should announce a comprehensive special package for the border areas, including large scale bunkers, community bunkers, in all areas including thickly populated townships which are under target in the new era.
An Audit of the existing bunkers, facilities, infrastructure etc should be conducted to upgrade them, as some of them are not worth living in.
He said the UPA Government had given a comprehensive package of over Rs 60 Cr including five marla plots to border people of Chhamb. He said that similar projects should be worked out for zero line LOC/border residents, he added.
He said it was noticed that bunkers are set up on pick and use basis as some areas in Zero line are without bunkers and shelter for people during shelling.
Demanding immediate disbursement of Compensation to the affected people, he said that Interim relief be immediately provided to those whose houses are damaged and not worth living in.
He demanded that complete compensation should be assessed by the engineering wing teams at the earliest.
He said the Special Central package should include relief and rehabilitation and Special recruitment drive in border areas. Apart from this, people in camps have demanded weapons for self defence in border areas to fight infiltration/ border crossings.
Terming the Pahalgam carnage as a crime against humanity and most barbaric, he said the silver lining was the spirit of humanity and Hindu-Muslim unity displayed by the people immediately after the carnage.
The people in the entire country stood together against terrorism and Pakistan, giving full support to the government and forces to adopt the required strong course of action to give a befitting response, he said.
“Our leadership Malikkarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi and the entire opposition fully stood behind the nation without asking questions on the Pahalgam happening, but now the questions are there, for which Congress has demanded an all-party meet and a special parliamentary session to take the 140 crore countrymen into confidence about the details of the entire happenings,” he said.
How the truce was announced by a third country (the US) and what were the circumstances, as it is against the stated policy and stand of the nation on Kashmir throughout, especially after the ‘Shimla Agreement’ by Indira Gandhi after the 1971 war.
Referring to the killing of a religious teacher in Poonch, he lauded a BJP former legislator who was the first to be called to shift the injured but regretted that a section of media labeled him a terrorist without verifying and should be ashamed of labeling a martyr as terrorist.
The JKPCC Chief announced a ‘Jai Hind Sabha’ followed by ‘Jai Hind Yatra’, by the party on May 20 at 10.30 am from Shaeedi Chowk Jammu to Indira Chowk to salute the bravery of the armed forces.
UNI
