Amit Shah aims at Gupkar group on ‘foreign link’

A newly launched grouping of political events in Jammu and Kashmir (J&Ok) desires overseas forces to intervene within the area and take it again to the period of “terror and turmoil”, Union house minister Amit Shah mentioned on Tuesday, in a scathing criticism of the six-party bloc referred to as the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).

He mentioned that the “Gupkar Gang” desires to remove the rights of Dalits, girls and tribal folks that the Centre ensured by eradicating Article 370, which accorded particular standing to the erstwhile state, and dared Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi to clear the air on whether or not their celebration is backing the alliance. Shah additionally known as the grouping a “global gathbandhan against our national interest”.

His remarks triggered a pointy response from the coalition, which its leaders say has been shaped to demand the restoration of the erstwhile state’s particular standing. The PAGD management mentioned the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to delegitimise a coalition that’s participating within the upcoming native polls in J&Ok. The Congress, too, hit again at Shah, saying the celebration is just not part of PAGD, which incorporates regional powerhouses National Conference (NC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The Gupkar Gang is going global! They want foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir. The Gupkar Gang also insults India’s Tricolour. Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India,” Shah wrote on Twitter.

Also Read| Congress not a part of Gupkar alliance: Surjewala

The BJP maintains that the Gupkar grouping, led by NC’s Farooq Abdullah, has been shaped on the instructions of Pakistan and China and is guided by “anti-India” forces. The BJP unit in J&Ok has additionally demanded the arrest of PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, the deputy chairperson of PAGD, for her October-end remarks that she is going to maintain the nationwide tricolour solely after the flag of the erstwhile state is restored.

“Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always remain an integral part of India. Indian people will no longer tolerate an unholy ‘global gathbandhan’ against our national interest. Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it,” Shah added.

Reacting to Shah’s tweets, PAGD alleged that the BJP is annoyed with the alliance because it is not going to get a walkover within the district growth council (DDC) elections, which shall be held from November 28 to December 22, with candidates of the coalition in fray.

“I can understand the frustration behind this attack by the Hon’ble Home Minister. He had been briefed that the People’s Alliance (PAGD) was preparing to boycott elections. This would have allowed the BJP & newly formed King’s party (Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party) a free run in J&K. We didn’t oblige them,” NC’s Omar Abdullah tweeted.

He additionally confused that PAGD is just not a gang however a “legitimate political alliance”. “Only in J&K can leaders be detained & called anti-national for participating in elections & supporting the democratic process. The truth is all those who oppose the ideology of the BJP are labelled “corrupt & anti-national”,” he added.

Mufti, a former ally of the BJP, mentioned that the celebration’s “stale tactic of dividing India by projecting themselves as saviours & political opponents as internal & imagined enemies is far too predictable now”.

“Old habits die hard. Earlier BJP’s narrative was that the tukde tukde gang threatened India’s sovereignty & they are now using ‘Gupkar Gang’ euphemism to project us as anti-nationals. Irony died a million deaths since its BJP itself that violates the constitution day in & day out.

“Fighting elections in an alliance is also anti-national now. BJP can stitch as many alliances in its hunger for power but somehow we are undermining national interest by putting up a united front,” she tweeted.

Srinagar-based political analyst Aseem Bhat mentioned that the approaching collectively of the events in opposition to the BJP is a big growth. “So far, the regional parties were on the back foot (after the nullification of Article 370 last year)…Now, they have started doing aggressive politics not only in Kashmir but also in the Jammu region, which is going to hurt the BJP…”

In the assertion denying any affiliation with PAGD, the Congress mentioned that Shah ought to clarify the BJP’s alliance with the PDP in 2015, when the 2 events shaped the federal government within the state.

Also Read| ‘Those who oppose BJP’s ideology are labelled corrupt and anti-national’: Omar Abdullah

“Congress is neither part of Gupkar Alliance nor PAGD. Will Mr Amit Shah bother to explain why the BJP formed a coalition government with the PDP that he is now attacking?” Congress’s chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala mentioned, accusing the house minister of “making mischievous statements” on J&Ok and stressing that the Congress won’t ever compromise on the nation’s territorial integrity.

PAGD has already launched two lists comprising the names of 54 candidates for the DDC polls, during which nominees will contest on celebration symbols. Despite the central Congress management’s denial, three of the celebration’s candidates function within the second record. Also, the J&Ok Congress management mentioned earlier this week that the celebration is a part of the grouping.

On August 5, 2019, the central authorities nullified Article 370 and bifurcated J&Ok into two Union territories – J&Ok with a legislative meeting and Ladakh with out one — triggering widespread protests and a political firestorm.

Several political leaders and activists together with three former chief ministers — Mufti, Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah — had been detained as a safety measure to take care of regulation and order. The Abdullahs had been launched in March, and Mufti in October.

Since then, the leaders, as soon as fierce opponents, have come collectively — backed by 4 different events (Peoples Conference, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Peoples Movement and Awami National Conference) — to forge the alliance that goals to work for the restoration of the area’s particular standing. The grouping’s first assembly was held on the Gupkar residence of Farooq Abdullah on October 15.