Government should stop bullets, brickbats: Congress on Kashmir

New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his observations on the Kashmir issue in his Independence Day speech, the Congress on Wednesday said "brickbats and bullets" should stop coming from the government and BJP's side and they should start the dialogue process.

"He (Modi) embraces people from across the world, but I have never seen him embracing Kashmiris. He should have taken this initiative before.

"He said the Kashmir problem cannot be resolved through bullets and brickbats, instead it will be solved by embracing the Kashmiris. But bullets and brickbats are coming from their (BJP and government) side," said senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.

"We had earlier suggested that the door for dialogue should be kept open. This is a bilateral matter. It should be resolved bilaterally," he said, adding that the process of dialogue had been stopped for the past three years.

"The government believes in military action and the supporters of Sangh Parivar keep on abusing Kashmiris on selected channels. Both are coming from their side. They should stop bullets and brickbats. Don't tell others to stop it," said Azad.

The Congress also hit out at Modi for his new slogan "Bharat Jodo" (unite the country) and said the Sangh Parivar was already busy in "Bharat todo" (break the country) campaign.

"BJP had opposed the 'Bharat Chhodo Andolan' led by Mahatma Gandhi. Yesterday (Tuesday), the Prime Minister (Modi) gave a new slogan 'Bharat Jodo'. You are talking about 'Bharat Jodo' but your Parivar is busy in 'Bharat todo' campaign," said Azad.

"He should ask the Sangh Parivar to first stop the 'Bharat todo' campaign. The country was already united when India achieved Independence. Mahatma Gandhi had already united the country," he added.

Azad said: "They (BJP) believe in breaking the country and at the same time talking about uniting it. How can both go hand in hand?"