Srinagar, Jan 30: Congress leader and Member of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi said that he was warned that he might be attacked in Kashmir but people here gave him hearts full of love.
Amid snowfall, wearing traditional Pheran, Rahul addressed the culmination event of Bharat Jodo Yatra at Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar and stated that security people had advised him to go to Kashmir by vehicle and not by walk.
“People here did not give me hand grenades but hearts full of love”.Rahul said.
“Three to four days back, the administration told me that if I go on foot, a grenade would be hurled at me…I thought to give an opportunity to those who hate me, to change the colour of my white t-shirt to red, ” he said.
Gandhi challenged the BJP top brass to undertake a yatra like his in JK, saying they will never do it as they are scared.
He also spoke about the pain of losing someone while remembering his father Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, saying that he understood the pain of those who lost their kin in the Pulwama attack.
“I was 14 years old when my Grandmother was shot dead and 7 years old when my father was also killed. I can understand the pain of hundreds of Kashmiris, security forces who lost their beloved people in violence.. I can understand the pain of those who lost their kin in Pulwama, Kashmir or along the border,” he said.
Rahul said during the Yatra he learned a lot and met hundreds of people across the country.
He said he did not do the Yatra for himself or Congress, the aim was to stand against an ideology that wants to destroy the foundation of the country.
He also spoke about love and Kashmiriyat, apart from a number of issues in the country that transformed his viewpoint.
National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti from People’s Democratic Party also spoke at the event amid heavy snowfall.
The Kanyakumari to Kashmir yatra started from the southern tip of the country on September 7 and ended on January 30 in Srinagar, after covering 3,970 km in 12 states, and two Union territories.
Rahul held over 100 corner meetings, and 13 press conferences during the yatra. He had over 275 planned walking interactions and more than 100 sitting interactions.
