New Delhi: After Pakistan specifically quoted Rahul Gandhi in its letter to the UN as saying that “people are dying” in Kashmir, a visibly embarrassed Congress changed tack and fiercely attacked Pakistan as the instigator of violence in the Valley, stressing that Kashmir is India’s internal issue.
Gandhi, who is in his Wayanad constituency, said in a series of tweets: “I disagree with this government on many issues. But let me make this absolutely clear: Kashmir is India’s internal issue and there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it.
“There is violence in Jammu and Kashmir, because it is instigated and supported by Pakistan, which is known to be the prime supporter of terrorism across the world.”
Pakistan, in its letter to the UN General Assembly, said “Rahul Gandhi has noted ‘people are dying’ in Jammu and Kashmir, in light of events ‘going very wrong there’.”
The letter has been doing the rounds on social media, and Pakistan has taken care to mention Gandhi’s name in it more than once to buttress its claim of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir following the lockdown and the revocation of its special status.
Gandhi’s name being openly bandied by Pakistan in support of its stand on Kashmir is likely to harm his image and that of the Congress party.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is against demonising PM Modi on every issue, also joined Gandhi and said the Congress had insisted that Kashmir was an integral part of India and the party was only opposed to the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated.
“J&K is an integral part of India; we opposed the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated because the way it was done assaulted our Constitution and democratic values. No reason for Pakistan to draw any comfort from our stand,” Tharoor tweeted.