Indian leader enters Kashmir, last stop of his ‘Unite India’ march

Indian leader enters Kashmir, last stop of his ‘Unite India’ march

Rahul Gandhi greeted by hundreds of people in town of Qazigund; party accuses government of security breach

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA): The scion of India’s Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, early Friday entered Kashmir Valley, the last stop of his nationwide march aimed at uniting the people his party believes is being divided along religious lines by the Hindu nationalist government in the center.

Tens of hundreds of Kashmiris welcomed Gandhi as he entered Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir, the disputed region which is held by India and Pakistan in parts but claimed by both in full. They were waving Congress flags.

The scene of a gathering with the majestic snow-clad Pir Panjal mountain range in the background was a rare sight as large political gatherings have become virtually non-existent since 2019 when New Delhi took direct control of the region.

Gandhi was joined by Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is the third-generation leader of the National Conference, which has made the restoration of complete autonomy to the region its party’s main demand but has done little to achieve it. Rather, the pro-freedom groups have accused it of collaborating with the Indian state.

Senior Congress leader and Gandhi’s fellow marcher Jairam Ramesh told reporters that the government had not made proper security arrangements, which forced Gandhi to cut short his walk in the town.

Jammu and Kashmir was the final but the most important destination of the march named Bharat Jodo (Unite India), ostensibly termed against the alleged divisive policies of the Narendra Modi-led government, especially in the backdrop of the revocation of the autonomous status of the disputed region.

Ramesh told reporters that they will continue in Kashmir with the message of the march, which he said was to “inform the countrymen about the negatives of Modi government’s policies.”

After the change in status, Modi’s popularity has risen among the Hindu nationalists, his core support base and who have been clamoring for withdrawing the autonomy of Kashmir since India’s independence in 1947.

The Congress and several opposition parties have opposed the “undemocratic manner” in which the Modi-led government withdrew the autonomy in parliament. But the party has not promised to restore the special status.

Before entering Kashmir, while addressing reporters in the Jammu region, Gandhi said his party will “put all might and resources behind” restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir state, which was divided and downgraded into two federally-ruled territories in 2019.

His party colleague Ramesh even talked of constitutional safeguards under Article 371 of the Indian Constitution, which provides land, job and other safeguards to some states in the northeast region of India.

Gandhi will conclude his march on Jan 30, at the party’s Kashmir headquarters in Srinagar, where he will address party workers and hoist the Indian flag.

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