The Congress on Monday demanded that elections in Jammu and Kashmir must be held according to the Supreme Court-set deadline, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleging that the BJP’s policy on J-K and Ladakh neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat’.
Kharge’s remarks come on the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 and the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories of J-K and Ladakh.
“BJP’s policy on Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh neither respects ‘Kashmiriyat’ nor upholds ‘Jamhuriyat (democracy)’,” Kharge said in a post on X.
“The Modi government had claimed that this move would help to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir, boost economic development of the region and prevent terrorism and separatism. However, the reality is starkly different,” he said.
Since 2019, there have been 683 fatal terror attacks, resulting in the martyrdom of 258 security personnel and the loss of 170 civilian lives, the Congress chief said.
Notably, 25 terror attacks have occurred in the Jammu region since PM Narendra Modi’s third oath, claiming the lives of 15 soldiers and injuring 27, he said.