Union Interior Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday lashed out at political parties in Kashmir that have come together under the umbrella of the People’s Alliance Declaration for Gupkar (PAGD), saying that by supporting the restoration of Article 370 in the Union Territory, they want to take away the rights of Dalits, women and tribes.
In a series of tweets, Shah said that the Gupkar alliance, a coalition of political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, is a “global gathbandhan against national interests.”
“The Gupkar gang is going global! They want foreign forces to intervene in Jammu and Kashmir. Gupkar’s gang also insults the tricolor of India. Do Sonia ji and Rahul ji support such movements of the Gupkar gang? They must make their position crystal clear to the people of India, ”Shah tweeted.
Read also | First it was ‘tukde tukde’, now it’s ‘Gupkar’: Mehbooba Mufti’s response to mockery of Amit Shah’s ‘gang’
His comments come in the context of reports that the PAGD would push for a reinstatement of Article 370 even with the support of China. Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and PPD leader Mehbooba Mufti was said to have said she would unfurl the national flag at J&K only when the old state flag is restored.
The PAGD, a seven-party alliance, will compete jointly against the BJP in the upcoming district development council elections at UT.
Training his weapons in the alliance, Shah said: “Congress and Gupkar’s gang want to bring J&K back to the age of terror and confusion. They want to take away the rights of Dalits, women and tribes that we have ensured by eliminating Article 370. That is why they are being rejected by people everywhere.
In another tweet, he said that J&K has been, is, and will always remain an integral part of India. “… The Indian people will no longer tolerate any profane ‘global gathbandhan’ against our national interest. Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or the people will sink it, ”Shah tweeted.
Members of the alliance, however, alleged that the BJP, which was expecting a transfer in local polls, is upset by the prospect of an alliance accepting it.
In reaction to Shah’s tweets, Mufti tweeted: “Old habits are hard to die. The previous BJP narrative was that the tukde tukde gang threatened the sovereignty of India and now they are using the euphemism of ‘Gupkar Gang’ to project us as anti-national. Irony died a million deaths from his own BJP violating the constitution day after day. ”
Former J&K Chief Minister and National Conference Leader Omar Abdullah also commented on Shah’s post, saying that only at J&K can leaders be detained and called anti-nationals for participating in elections and supporting the democratic process. “… The truth is that all those who oppose the ideology of the BJP are labeled ‘corrupt and anti-national’,” he tweeted. Abdullah also said that the alliance is not a “gang” but a “legitimate political alliance”.
“I can understand the frustration behind this attack from the Honorable Home Secretary. He was informed that the Popular Alliance was preparing to boycott the elections. This would have allowed the BJP and the newly formed King’s Party to go free at J&K. We didn’t do them the favor, ”Abdullah tweeted.
On Tuesday, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad also asked Congress to clarify his position on the issue of restoring Article 370. He said that Article 370, which gave the former state special status, prohibited the approval of women married to non-state subjects. in their ancestral property to their children. He said that the laws were against child exploitation, the prohibition of manual garbage collection, the reservation of jobs and educational institutions.
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