Cong slams Pak for dragging Rahul's name in UN petition

Rushing into damage control mode, Congress on Wednesday sought to set the record straight asserting that it may have differences with the Modi government on the handling of Jammu and Kashmir issue, but it is India’s internal issue with no room for Pakistan to interfere.

A flurry of clarifications from Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party came as Pakistan cited the former Congress President’s comments about reports of violence in Kashmir to bolster its case at the United Nations.

“I disagree with this government on many issues. But, let me make this absolutely clear: Kashmir is India’s internal issue & there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it,” Rahul said on Twitter.

“There is violence in Jammu & Kashmir. There is violence because it is instigated and supported by Pakistan which is known to be the prime supporter of terrorism across the world,” Rahul further added.

A political row had broken out after Pakistan Minister Shireen Mazri seized upon the statements of Rahul and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on restrictions in J&K to petition the UN on the Kashmir issue.

The BJP had hit out at Rahul saying that his immaturity had become a problem for the Congress party.

Union Minister Girirraj Singh borrowed a phrase used by Rahul to criticise the Modi government over the RBI cash transfer.

“It is like stealing a Band-Aid from the dispensary and sticking it on a gunshot wound. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have done much damage to India,” Singh said.

In a separate statement, Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said the party had noticed “reports citing an alleged petition moved by Pakistani Government to UN on Jammu & Kashmir”, in which Rahul Gandhi had been “mischievously dragged to justify the pack of lies and deliberate misinformation being spread by Pakistan”.

Surjewala said let no one in the world be in doubt that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and shall always remain an integral part of India. “No amount of diabolical deception by Pakistan shall change this irrevocable truth,” he said.

On Saturday, Rahul and a delegation of Opposition leaders had made a failed bid to visit J&K, which was widely reported in Pakistani media.

On his return from the Srinagar airport, Rahul has said that he got a taste of the current “draconian administration” in Jammu and Kashmir.