J&K Cong. chief flays Omar over ‘Cong. wants to see Kashmiris go to jail over Vande Mataram’ remarks
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) President Tariq Hameed Karra. File. | Photo Credit: PTI
The Congress on Friday reacted sharply to ally National Conference (NC) vice president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s remarks that the “Congress wanted people of Kashmir to go jail over the national song, Vande Mataram”. National Conference (NC) Member of Parliament (MP) Aga Syed Ruhullah also criticised Mr. Abdullah’s stand.
Terming Mr. Abdullah’s remarks “detached from reality”, J&K Pradesh Congress Committee chief Tariq Hameed Karra said, “Are we wrong to expect our Hon’ble CM to be equally capable of standing up for secular and inclusive values as the CMs of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and now even Karnataka and Telangana have done by limiting Vande Mataram to first two stanzas at State events?”
Mr. Karra said the public has nothing to do with this debate. “It is the government that is expected to stand upright. But since Omar Sahib has raised the issue, did a single person in Kerala go to jail when its government chose to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at the Independence Day parade?” said Mr. Karra.
Mr. Karra was reacting to the statement where Mr. Abdullah said his government will follow the law on the Vande Mataram and accused the Congress of “wanting to see people in jail over the issue”. The remarks came after Mr. Abdullah and his leader stood for all the six stanzas of the national song in Srinagar on September 7 during an official function. Since then, the relations have turned sour between the allies. The Congress supports the restricted rendition of the national song — the first two stanzas — in line with the historic 1937 resolution.
The Congress J&K chief said it was also worth putting on record that the first International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir (IFFJK) 2026, titled Rang-e-Cinema, was a “State event” organised jointly by the Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), J&K, and the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) — and was inaugurated by the CM himself. “So, who else was or wasn’t present is irrelevant — a superfluous detail meant only to distract from the core issue,” said Mr. Karra.
Mr. Abdullah, while defending the decision to stand for all the stanzas of the national song, had said it was an official function with Chief Justices in it.
NC MP Aga Syed Ruhullah has also criticised Mr. Abdullah over his stand on the Vande Mataram. “I fought against the imposition of stanzas of Vande Mataram, because its imposition is unconstitutional. I look behind and see that my party has not only abandoned the fight but have fallen in line to the BJP and the RSS in submission,” said Mr. Ruhullah, in a post on X.
Mr. Ruhullah said at a time when minorities were being pushed to the wall, “let’s not normalise the communal onslaught of the RSS and BJP”.
“If we do not stand up for their legitimate concerns across India, who will? We are the largest Muslim-majority or, put differently, “minority”-majority, region in the Union of India. That should make us more sensitive to the religious beliefs and concerns of minorities. J&K has a historical opportunity to stand for what is right. Let’s not squander that chance. These are hard times. They call for statesmanship, sensitivity and courage — not another compromise,” said the NC MP.
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
