Jammu: The Congress will use “our full power” to get statehood reinstated to Jammu and Kashmir, party MP Rahul Gandhi said on Monday as his Bharat Jodo Yatra arrived in Jammu to a grand welcome.
“The Congress party will fully support you and your statehood [demand]. To reinstate statehood, the Congress will use our full power,” Gandhi told a gathering at the Satwari Chowk.
“Statehood is your biggest issue. There is no big issue as big as statehood. Your right has been snatched,” he said.
Gandhi said people were telling him that their voices were not being heard by the administration. “The entire trade is being run by outsiders and people of J&K watch them sitting haplessly,” he said.
Gandhi said J&K has the highest level of unemployment in the country. Youngsters aspire to become engineers, doctors and lawyers but they find they cannot, he said.
“There was another way [to get employment] earlier. It was with the army. It has also been closed now by a new scheme, called Agniveer, introduced by the BJP. That path is also now closed,” he said.
Separately, the Congress leader also slammed J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha for telling a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits that they should not be begging.
Addressing a corner meeting near Satwari Chowk in Jammu, he said Sinha should know that they are only asking for their rights.
Gandhi made the statement shortly after a Pandit delegation called on him in Samba district earlier in the day and briefed him about their various issues, including “targeted killings” and the resultant protests by those employed under the prime minister’s employment package.
“Injustice is being meted to Kashmir Pandits by this government...this morning, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits met me and briefed me about their issues. I was surprised to know that their delegation was told by the lieutenant governor that they should not seek alms,” Gandhi.
“You [L-G] should seek forgiveness from them [Pandits],” he said.
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