Congress fails to attend I-Day functions in both capitals
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: The current turmoil in Kashmir valley has not only widened the gap between the Centre and the State but it has also created a wedge between the leaders of mainstream political parties belonging to two distinct regions of Jammu and Kashmir.
On Monday, when National Conference leaders boycotted the Independence Day function at Bakshi stadium, three senior leaders of the party in Jammu, including Provincial President and close aide of Working President of the party D S Rana, Sajjad Kichloo, Dharamvir Singh Jamwal and Rattan Lal Gupta, all stood tall in the first row of VVIP’s and saluted the national flag along with Deputy Chief Minister Prof Nirmal Singh.
Omar Abdullah along with senior party leaders in Kashmir, however, gave the state function a miss, raising many an eyebrows.
It also raises question marks over the management of the party affairs and the failure of the leadership to keep their flock together in turbulent times.
Fearing backlash in Jammu, the Jammu based leaders of the National Conference may have decided to bypass diktats of the party high command and made their presence felt during the state function.
Ironically, Congress leaders failed miserably to explain why they could not make to the event. As they stayed away from both the events in twin capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu the party leaders came in for sharp scrutiny.
In Srinagar, the Congress leaders claimed that due to strict curfew restrictions, the party leaders could not make it to the event. Ironically, in peaceful Jammu too party leaders found it difficult to reach the venue and attend the I-day function.
At the peak of the unrest in Kashmir Valley when central party leaders Ambika Soni and Salman Khursheed had arrived in Srinagar to take stock of the prevailing situation, the party leaders remained present in good numbers but on Monday they took refuge under garb of strict curfew restrictions in the summer capital.
Defending their party decision to boycott the I-day event in Bakshi Stadium, National Conference General Secretary Ali Mohammed Sagar had claimed that the people of Kashmir valley have been caged for over 40 days now and despite making passionate appeals to the union Home Minister and other central leaders nothing on ground zero has changed. The use of pellet guns has not been stopped and brutal force is being used to tackle protesters, he added.
