PM should focus on J&K first: Congress

Congress leaders Sanjay Singh, Sheila Dikshit, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Raj Babbar and Pramod Tiwari at a press conference in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Making a strong pitch for dialogue to contain the ongoing violence in Kashmir, the Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should ensure that the situation in the Valley is brought under control before “talking about other things” like Balochistan.

The Prime Minister is talking about something else when “the house is on fire,” senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said and called for “saving the crown” of the country by talking to the local people.

“Our Prime Minister is international. (While visiting foreign countries) he should also pay attention to what is happening here. He should focus on where the situation is bad,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha told reporters at the Congress headquarters.

Asked about the Prime Minister’s reference to Balochistan and PoK in his Independence Day speech, Mr Azad said Mr Modi should first ensure that the situation in the Valley is brought under control before “talking about other things.” “There have been deaths of a few persons daily, may it be of civilians or security forces... They are our own people. He does not speak a word about it,” he said. Mr Azad said Mr Modi started doing politics over Pakistan even before taking oath as Prime Minister by rolling out the red carpet to its Premier Nawaz Sharif. Mr Modi had even attended a wedding in Pakistan.

“But he will not say anything on saving the crown (sir ka taj) of the country,” he said. He had got as many as six opportunities in the just concluded Monsoon Session to speak about Kashmir, but “he remained in his room,” he said, adding that “it goes to the credit of the Opposition to force debate (on Kashmir) in Parliament. But there is no follow up, no dialogue. Have a dialogue with our own people,” he said.

Replying to a question, Mr Azad said he has not seen the statement of senior party leader P. Chidambaram that Congress, National Conference and, “if willing,” the PDP should come together to find a solution to the unrest in the Valley.

Meanwhile, the AICC distanced itself from the remarks of Mr Chidambaram on Kashmir, terming them as “personal and individual views” even as the party highlighted the “contradictions” in the PDP-BJP government in the state.

“Obviously, unless any party line is announced, it is his individual view. But an individual view is not to be seen the way you are seeing it...Somebody has expressed a hope and that is his personal view,” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said here.

At the AICC briefing, he said, “A person is free to write and speak, so long as he is expressing a personal opinion — a hope, a wish, a desire and not going against any established party opinion.”

Mr Singhvi said the point is there is no contradiction in what the party is saying and what is Mr Chidambaram’s desire and the real issue is that the arrangement between PDP and BJP for the last two years is “ridden with contradictions”.

“Today, he (Chidambaram) has expressed his opinion. We have also said that unless we have the mandate, we will not meddle in Kashmir affairs. Tomorrow, we may have the mandate who knows, we will go and govern Kashmir and we will show better governance than what is there today,” he said.

Highlighting the “differences” within the ruling PDP-BJP combine in J&K , he said, “One cannot have a situation in India where there will be one government in Jammu and another government in Kashmir.

“We can’t have a coalition which does not talk to each other. When something happens, BJP locally attacks it, the central government attacks it and then they go and sleep together in a coalition government,” he said.