Modi slams Congress for lending voice to Kashmir separatists

Bengaluru: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the Congress for an "insult to our soldiers" by "using the language of separatists in Jammu and Kashmir and of the people of Pakistan" after party leader P. Chidambaram said the demand for greater autonomy in the troubled state should be considered.

"For the sake of Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of Indian soldiers have sacrificed their lives. And yesterday, they were seen joining voices with those who want 'azadi'. It is an insult to our soldiers. The Congress was shameless in saying so," Modi said, addressing a gathering of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) functionaries here.

Chidambaram, the former Union Home Minister, on Saturday said the appointment of an interlocutor for Jammu and Kashmir was a "diversionary" tactic and felt the "azadi" demand in the Kashmir Valley meant people wanted greater autonomy and "I think we should seriously examine that question and consider on what areas we can give autonomy to" the state.

Hitting out sharply at the Congress after Chidambaram's statement, Modi questioned if the country can "benefit from such people".

"Our country cannot progress under the people who are doing politics over the sacrifice of our soldiers. From their yesterday's statement, I can understand why they (the Congress) had a problem with surgical strikes."

Modi said the Congress had also spread "many lies" on the issue of the Doklam standoff.

"It seemed that after repeated defeats, some intellectual people in the party would put Congress back on the right path. But it seems like the Congress does not want to learn from its mistakes, because people usually learn from their mistakes," Modi said at the BJP rally outside the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport in the city.