Centre owes explanation to nation for blasts in Delhi, Srinagar: JK Cong chief

Jammu, Nov 16 (PTI) The Congress' Jammu and Kashmir unit on Sunday said the Union government owes an explanation to the nation for the recent blasts in Delhi and Srinagar since the ruling BJP has been claiming that they have eliminated terrorism with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.

Jammu and Kashmir Congress chief Tariq Hameed Karra also accused the BJP of misleading the public by making "wrong statements", and alleged that the Centre was carrying out "experiments" and "mishandling" the Union territory.

An accidental explosion at the Nowgam police station on the outskirts of Srinagar late on Friday night killed nine people and injured 32 others. Officials said the blast happened when a specialised team was extracting samples from a large and "unstable" cache of explosives confiscated in connection with an ongoing 'white-collar' terror module investigation.

This happened just a few days after an explosion ripped through a car near the Red Fort in Delhi, which claimed 13 lives. Investigators said the blast had links to the terror module busted with the recovery of explosives, mainly from Faridabad in Haryana.

"The blast in Delhi and the one at Nowgam police station are of the biggest concern for the nation.

"The Government of India has been claiming that Article 370 was responsible for terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir; but over the years, we have seen terrorism spreading its tentacles to hitherto peaceful Jammu region and beyond," Karra told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

He said Narendra Modi used to raise questions about the origin of terrorism when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. "Today, we pose the same question -- where is terrorism coming from now?" Alleging that people were being "fooled through wrong statements", Karra said, "As a result of that, we are seeing the impact of terrorism at other places." "Blasts happened in Delhi and Srinagar, and the government owes an explanation to the entire nation as they have been claiming that terrorism was eliminated with the abrogation of Article 370," the Congress leader said.

He alleged the BJP has dented the country's 'Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb' by its divisive politics. "The BJP rake up communal issues to hide their failures on every front and divert public attention," the Congress leader claimed.

About the massive defeat of the Mahagathbandhan, in which the Congress is a major ally, in the Bihar Assembly elections, Karra said the results proved that Rahul Gandhi's "vote chori" allegations were correct.

"The Bihar results proved Gandhi right as he had cautioned the nation about 'vote theft'. Bihar's population is 7.42 crore, but 7.45 crore voted, although the Election Commission showed the turnout at 66 per cent," he claimed.

The Congress leader alleged that the people of Bihar were deprived of their right to choose their government.

About the Nagrota bypoll, he said the results were on expected lines. But the National Conference, which is ruling Jammu and Kashmir, should look into its defeat in the Budgam bypolls, Karra advised.

BJP candidate Devyani Rana secured victory in the Nagrota assembly seat, which fell vacant after the death of her father Devender Singh Rana last year. The PDP won from Budgam, which was vacated by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah after he decided to retain the Ganderbal assembly seat. "The people of Budgam expressed their anger after Omar Abdullah vacated the seat despite getting the highest number of votes from there. Probably, people also want to express their unhappiness with the functioning of his government," Karra said.

About statehood restoration, he said, "Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah made repeated promises to the people of Jammu and Kashmir about the restoration of statehood both within and outside Parliament and during the assembly polls last year.

"The Supreme Court has also passed directions for the restoration of statehood, but the government is unmoved, prompting us to launch a struggle to awaken this blind, deaf and dumb dispensation," Karra said.

He pointed out that the demand for statehood restoration is not only the demand of the Congress, but also reflects the sentiment of the 1.40 crore people of Jammu and Kashmir. PTI TAS TAS NSD NSD