New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement in the Lok Sabha over the situation in the Kashmir Valley where a month of unrest has left over 55 people dead.
“How come the Prime Minister addresses Kashmir from Madhya Pradesh? Why not from the House? PM Modi tweets on events across the world, but was silent on Kashmir crisis. When something happens in Africa, the Prime Minister tweets about it. But when the Taj of India is burning, the heat is not reaching the central government,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said.

Azad said that Jammu and Kashmir is not like other Indian states. “Jammu and Kashmir government is dependent on the Centre and central forces for maintaining law and order in the state. If someone says that Mehbooba Mufti should alone solve the problem in Kashmir, that is not possible for her,” he added.

He further said that Militants have no religion. A militant is a militant: be it from Kashmir or Punjab, he said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge also slammed Modi for making a statement over the issue outside Parliament when the House was in session.

“The Prime Minister has broken his silence over the Kashmir issue and that too outside Parliament. If he would have given his statement in the House, it would have been better,” Kharge said. He urged Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to tell Modi to give a statement in the House.

“We know the situation in Kashmir. The whole House is worried about it. You give them directions in this regard,” Kharge said.

The Congress demand for a discussion on Kashmir has come at a time when the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday took up the issue. The Kashmir debate in the Rajya Sabha came more than a month after violence erupted in the valley following the July 8 killing of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani .

On Tuesday, Modi pledged to take forward former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s vision of Insaniyat, Jamahooriyat and Kashmiriyat.