Rajnath Singh’s visit eyewash: Congress

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 25

Terming Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to J&K as an eyewash, the Congress today said the Centre failed to announce confidence-building measures (CBMs) to reach out to the people of the Valley.

“It was expected that Rajnath Singh would announce some CBMs directly benefiting the people, besides addressing the current situation. However, the Home Minister remained stuck to the official position on the current unrest and no serious efforts were made to reach out to the people, particularly to those who lost their dear ones. The visit was a mere eyewash,” said a joint statement issued by MLC Gulam Nabi Monga and MLAs Haji Abdul Rashid Dar, Mohd Amin Bhat and Gulzar Ahmad Wani.

The Congress leaders were reacting to Rajnath Singh’s two-day visit that concluded on Sunday. The party had boycotted the visit and not met the Union minister, who held deliberations with several delegations here in view of the law and order situation following the death of militant commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir had earlier said the party would not meet Rajnath Singh as the state and Centre were “only interested in meetings and not keen to translate the decisions into action.” “Ironically, neither the Prime Minister nor the Home Minister has condemned the brutal use of force on civilians. They have only held meetings,” he had said.

Asserting that both the state and Centre had “miserably failed” to respond to issues concerning people, today’s Congress statement said the suggestions given by the Congress at the all-party meeting called by the Chief Minister earlier had fallen on deaf ears.

“No concrete steps were taken to end the current unrest. The continuous restrictions on the movement of people besides banning Internet and mobile services have disconnected the Valley from the rest of the country and the irony is that the state government has not been able to restore these services,” the statement added.

Urging the Centre to shun its “unfriendly attitude towards the state,” the Congress urged the government to take effective measures and ensure that the current unrest comes to an end without any further loss.