NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday sought an explanation from the Congress on the purported remark by the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad, that more civilians are being killed in the Kashmir valley than militants.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, while slamming Azad, asked UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi to explain the remark, which he claimed was aimed at breaking the spirit of the Army.
“People supporting terrorism are happy to hear such remarks. Has the Congress fallen to such a level? It’s definitely not a stray remark, but a well thought out ideology spelt out by the Congress leader,” Prasad told reporters at the BJP headquarters.
The BJP leader said Azad’s remark was not only embarrassing but unfortunate and irresponsible.
The minister said that 110 militants were killed in 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre, against 72 and 67 in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
“As many as 108 in 2015, 150 in 2016 and 217 militants had been killed in the Kashmir valley, while 75 of them have been neutralised so far in the current year,” said Prasad.
Seeking to draw a parallel with the purported statement of Congress leader Saifuddin Soz that Kashmiris wanted Independence, Prasad said: “They suggest that Pakistan’s proxies find a place in the Congress.”