Focus on studies, don't bother about J&K issues: Ghulam Nabi

Senior Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad on Sunday advised the students from Jammu and Kashmir in Bengaluru to concentrate on their studies and not to involve themselves in protests on issues related to their state.

The students staging a protest on issues related to Kashmir is not proper. They need not bother about issues related to Kashmir now. Instead, they should concentrate on their studies, he told reporters who sought his reaction to a section of students reportedly shouting anti-India slogans and indulging in heated arguments during an interaction programme organised here on Saturday on human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir.

  “The students have come here to pursue their studies. They have to focus on the studies and should come up in life keeping their parents in mind...They still have a lot of time to think about issues related to Kashmir (sic),” Azad, who is also leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said.

“Jammu and Kashmir has been witnessing unprecedented violence in the last few days. Curfew was imposed for six days. The ball is now in the Centre’s court to find a solution to the long-standing problem. We have to wait and watch what steps the Centre would take to resolve the issue,” he said.

Azad was in Bengaluru to attend a lunch hosted by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at his official residence “Cauvery” in memory of his son Rakesh, who passed away recently.