Srinagar, Jan 29: Three former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday skipped the Rahul Gandhi tricolor hoisting function at Lal Chowk.
Amid tight security measures, Gandhi along with his sister party’s General secretary Priyanka Gandhi unfurled the Tricolour and sang the national anthem at historic Lal Chowk in Srinagar.
None among the Abdullah’s and Mufti’s turned up to attend the function, who otherwise remained active during the past seven days with the Bharat Jodo Yatra in the Union Territory.
A political analyst told Rising Kashmir that both Abdullah’s and Mufti’s are crossing all the lines of national interest and should be ashamed with their actions, he said.
“They have always used the Indian flag and constitution for their vested interests. People of Jammu and Kashmir will not tolerate such hypocritical character,” he said.
Another political observer said that Abdullah’s and Mufti’s associated themselves with Bharat Jodo Yatra as a publicity stunt. Whosoever is against hoisting National Flag and singing the National anthem is the biggest enemy of India, they are behaving worst than separatist leaders, he said.
“If these leaders would have participated in the Tricolour hoisting function at Lal Chowk. It will have given them the confidence of people. There were hundreds of people who were part of BJY. They would have forwarded this message to other parts of country. Unfortunately it seems they only remember the Indian flag when they are in power and rest they have betrayed people in JK,” a political observer said.
On January 20, NC president Farooq Abdullah travelled to Lakhanpur to welcome Rahul Gandhi in Jammu and Kashmir. While Omar Abdullah who joined Rahul in Banihal and on Saturday Mehbooba Mufti, her daughter Iltija Mufti and her mother joined BJY near Awantipora.
Earlier Mehbooba had said in a press conference in Srinagar that she would not raise the national flag until Jammu and Kashmir’s flag, constitution and status (as under Article 370) were restored.
On Saturday, BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) senior leader and co-incharge Jammu and Kashmir Ashish Sood said both National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti did not bother to greet people on the 74th Republic Day.
In a video message, the senior BJP leader Ashish Sood targeted NC leaders Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti for not bothering to greet people on the auspicious occasion of Republic Day.
“Check their social media accounts and you will find there is not a single message about Republic Day. They only remember the Indian constitution when their vested interests are there,” he said.
