Srinagar, Aug 10: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday accused the BJP-led Centre of not being able to curb terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and instead indulging in “jugglery of words”.
Participating in a chain hunger strike called by the Pradesh Congress Committee to demand Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood restoration, Khera was replying to a question on the ongoing anti-terror operation in Kulgam.
“In 2016, we were promised that terrorism would end after demonetisation. Do not go by their promises… they do not know how to run the government. They only know the jugglery of words,” Khera told reporters here.
“There will be a new drama every day to divert our and your attention. The reality is that the PM is neither able to run the government now, nor will he be able to in future,” Khera told reporters here.
At least two army personnel were killed while nine were injured in an encounter in the Akhal forest area of Kulgam, which entered its 10th day on Sunday as security forces tried to squeeze the cordon around the terrorists. Two terrorists have also been killed in the operation launched on August 1.
Khera said more powers reside with the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir than with the elected government.
“If the UT set up continues, there are too many compulsions. One has to work very hard as the hands are tied,” he said.
Asked about the killing of Pahalgam attackers in an encounter with security forces, Khera said the government should tell the nation how the attackers came in.
“They have been killed is a different thing, but how did they come? Tell us that. And how many more are still around?” he said.
Asked about the steep hike in tariffs imposed by the US on Indian goods, Khera said President Donald Trump thinks that India is a weak country.
“He looks at Modi and thinks that Modi is India. India is way bigger than Modi; it is a power. If anyone has shown the true power of India to the US, it was Indira Gandhi in 1971.
“Trump should understand that India’s power is a different thing, and Modi is the PM. There have been several PMs before him and there will be more after him,” he said.
The Congress leader said the foreign policy of the present government was a failure, as no nation publicly supported India after the Pahalgam attack or during Operation Sindoor.
“Tell me one nation that stood by India and said ‘Pakistan did wrong’… If your neighbours like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are against you, what kind of foreign policy is that? There are two superpowers right now — America and China. Both are working against you, and Pakistan is taking advantage of both,” he said. (Agencies)
