Jammu: J&K Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Ravinder Raina on Tuesday alleged that the communal tension and targeted killings were a part of Pakistan conspiracy to disturb peace in the Union Territory.
He stated this while responding to media queries here in a press interaction at the party office in Trikuta Nagar, Jammu.
Raina was accompanied by former Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, general secretary Vibodh Gupta, secretary Arvind Gupta and spokesperson R S Pathania.
Raina appealed to people to maintain brotherhood and said, “Anti-national and anti-social elements behind creating communal tension would be sternly dealt with to frustrate the Pakistani conspiracy to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the Union Territory.”
He also took a dig at Congress workers stating that there was “no need for an uproar over the questioning of their leader Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money laundering investigation as nobody was above law in the country.”
“Jammu and Kashmir is the crown of India and is grappling with Pakistan-sponsored terrorism for over three decades. As Pakistan is facing defeat in the proxy war at the hands of our forces, a conspiracy was hatched in the form of targeted killings and dividing people on religious lines to disturb the peaceful atmosphere,” Raina said.
The BJP leader was responding to a question about the recent incidents of communal tension, especially in Jammu region’s Doda-Kishtwar where curfew and restrictions had to be imposed to maintain law and order.
“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are desirous of peace as they have seen enough of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. We have had enough tolerance and all those anti-national and anti-social elements behind the innocent killings and disturbing communal harmony will be sternly dealt with by police and other security agencies,” Raina said.
He appealed to the “nationalist and peace-loving people” to maintain peace and communal harmony to thwart Pakistan’s nefarious designs.
“It is our responsibility to respect and honour the religious sentiments of each other. This is our culture and teachings of our forefathers and we have to stand united to strengthen our nation and give a befitting reply to those elements that are playing dirty politics,” he said.
Referring to the country-wide protests by Congress against the questioning of Rahul Gandhi by the ED on Monday, he said, “There is no political vendetta involved as the central government has nothing to do with his questioning.”
“Law is equal for everyone, whether he is an ordinary citizen of the country or a member of the Gandhi-Nehru family. Why are the Congressmen feeling the pain? If he has done nothing wrong, he will move out free and there is no need for an uproar,” Raina said.
He also expressed gratitude on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for airlifting critically injured medical student Shoaib Lone, a resident of Rajouri district, from Bangladesh to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi.