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Malik dares Rahul to visit Kashmir

KT NEWS SERVICE. Dated: 8/13/2019 10:43:06 AM

‘No communal angle to Art 370 scrap’

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR, Aug 12: Even as Congress leaders continue to speak about tension and difficult situations in Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370, Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday challenged Rahul Gandhi to visit Kashmir and then speak.
“He (Rahul Gandhi) should come, see and then speak,” Malik told a private news channel.
The Governor was asking questions on Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders criticising the government on the pretext that things are serious in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Rahul Gandhi is a youth leader from a large party, I expect matured statement from him. I expected him to speak in Parliament during the debate,” the Governor said.
“But from his party someone (Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury) spoke who did not know what and how is Kashmir connected to the UN. He did not speak in Parliament, but he came out of his party meeting and started saying things are not good in Kashmir,” he said.
The Governor said – “We have official plane, we can send him a state plane to visit the state. You (Rahul Gandhi) come, visit hospitals and then speak….Not even a single man is injured in Jammu and Kashmir today.” Malik was replying to a question about statements and reports by some leaders and the media about the violence in Kashmir.
Several Congress leaders including P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh have attributed to reports in a section of western media and said things are not normal in Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has denied the charge vehemently.
The Governor said just believing one western organisation whereas 20 other news media are roaming about in J&K and reporting would not be a proper thing.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also tweeted on Monday and said in her Eid missive on Twitter that people of Jammu and Kashmir are “facing ‘bhayanak bandishe’ (severe restrictions) and trouble time.” On Saturday night, Gandhi said that some reports had come in from Jammu and Kashmir about the violence there and Prime Minister Narendra Modi must assuage concerns over the matter in a transparent manner.
The Governor said there was no communal angle in scrapping provisions of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. “Scrapping of Article 370 and Article 35-A was for everyone. There is no communal angle (for scrapping it) in Leh, Kargil, Jammu, Rajouri-Poonch and not here either (Kashmir). There is no communal angle to it,” he said.
Malik said that the issue was being fanned by some people but they were not successful in it. “Foreign press has made an attempt (of wrong reportage) and we have warned them. All hospitals are open for you and if even a single person has been hit by a bullet, prove it. But only four people were hit by pellets in legs when there was violence by youths and there were no serious injuries to anyone,” he said. Replying to a question about allegations that Kashmir has been turned into a concentration camp, the Governor said that despite being educated, people don't know the meaning of a concentration camp. “I know what it is. I have gone to jail 30 times. Even then, I will not term it as a concentration camp. They (Congress) imprisoned people for one-and-half-years during Emergency, but nobody termed them concentration camps. Is preventative arrest (equal to) a concentration camp,” he asked.