Separatists' activities helping Mufti Mohammad Sayeed: Congress

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir Congress today said that incidents like waving of Paikstani flags by separatists in Srinagar was a part of larger conspiracy that has been helping Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to increase his acceptability in the Valley.

"Incidents like these (waving of flags) was a part of larger conspiracy that has been helping Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to increase his acceptability in the Kashmir Valley," Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Nawang Rigzin Jora, while addressing a day-long party convention at Kunjwani in outskirts of Jammu city, said.

Asserting that the country will have to pay a bigger price for all this, he said "Mufti Mohammad Sayeed is increasing his acceptability in the Kashmir Valley at the cost of BJP".

"Sayeed knows this as he too is involved in this, otherwise how is it possible that (Pakistani) flags are hoisted and anti-India and Pro-Pakistani slogans raised just outside the office of the Director General of Police," Jora said.

Jora, who accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of playing with the religion and regional sentiments of the people of Jammu, said that the saffron party sold out its ideology for the sake of getting power in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Where did their promises to have a Hindu chief minister go, where did the issue of Article 370 go, where did the slogan of empowering the Hindus of Jammu go, they had 25 seats and had a support of three others then why did they gave away everything to PDP," Jora said.

He said it was Congress which despite having only 17 seats in 2002 negotiated with PDP and gave equal representation to Jammu by installing a chief minister from Jammu region.

"Even if he was not a Hindu but he was from Jammu region, we empowered Jammu region, we are a secular party which believes in taking along everybody," he said.