SRINAGAR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday struck a bond with Kashmiris as he said they gave him hearts full of love and not hand grenades. He said no BJP leader can walk like he did, as they are scared.
After concluding his 4,000 km long Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul was addressing a rally here. He called for the end of violence in the Valley, saying phone calls announcing deaths of loved ones whether of a soldier, a CRPF jawan or any Kashmiri, should stop. “No child, mother, son or any other family member should take this phone call. My aim is to stop this call,” he said.
“I have not done this yatra for Congress but for the country. Our aim is to stand against the ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of this country. We should stand united with love and affection against them,” Rahul said.
Amid heavy snowfall, Rahul said while the BJP has shown a path of politics, the Congress wants to show the country a different route of dignity, love and affection. Rahul said he was warned that if he walked in Kashmir, he could be attacked. “However, I walked for four days. I thought those who hate me, let me give them an opportunity to change the colour of my white T-shirt to red...Kashmiri people did not give me a hand grenade but gave me love and warmth,” he said.
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The rally was to be a show of strength for the Opposition, but many could not make it due to bad weather. Apart from the Congress leaders, Farooq and Omar Abdullah of National Conference, Mehbooba Mufti of PDP, D Raja of CPI, RSP’s Premchandran, and leaders from DMK, JMM, BSP, VCK and IUML participated in the rally.
‘End these phone calls’
Rahul said, “I can understand the pain of Kashmiris as I have seen the violence.” He recalled when he was informed about the killing of his grandma (Indira) and dad (Rajiv) over phone, adding he wanted to end such calls