Appealing to people to maintain brotherhood, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina on Tuesday said anti-national and anti-social elements behind creating communal tension would be sternly dealt with to frustrate the Pakistani conspiracy to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the union territory.
Raina also advised Congress workers that there is no need for an uproar over the questioning of their leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money laundering investigation as “nobody is above law” in the country.
“Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India and is grappling with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for over three decades. As Pakistan is facing defeat (in the proxy war) at the hands of our forces, a conspiracy was hatched in the form of targeted killings and dividing people on religious lines to disturb the peaceful atmosphere,” he told reporters here.
The BJP leader was responding to a question about the recent incidents of communal tension, especially in Jammu region’s Chenab valley where curfew and restrictions had to be imposed to maintain law and order.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are desirous of peace as they have seen enough of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. We have had enough tolerance and all those anti-national and anti-social elements behind the innocent killings and disturbing communal harmony will be sternly dealt with by police and other security agencies,” Raina said.
He appealed to the “nationalist and peace-loving people” to maintain peace and communal harmony to thwart Pakistan’s nefarious designs.
“It is our responsibility to respect and honour the religious sentiments of each other. This is our culture and teachings of our forefathers and we have to stand united to strengthen our nation and give a befitting reply to those elements that are playing dirty politics,” he said.
Referring to the country-wide protests by Congress against the questioning of Rahul Gandhi by the ED on Monday, he said there is no “political vendetta” involved as the central government has nothing to do with his questioning.
“Law is equal for everyone, whether he is an ordinary citizen of the country or a member of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Why are the Congressmen feeling the pain? If he has done nothing wrong, he will move out free and there is no need for an uproar,” the J-K BJP president said.
Raina also expressed gratitude on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for airlifting critically injured medical student Shoaib Lone, a resident of Rajouri district, from Bangladesh to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi.
“We forwarded the request of Lone’s family to the Prime Minister’s office and the student was shifted to AIIMS within 24 hours on the personal intervention of Modi who has a concern for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, praying for the speedy recovery of the student who had met with a road accident in Bangladesh where he is studying in a medical college.
(With PTI inputs)
