NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched a scathing attack at the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration, saying "either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it". He dubbed the alliance as the 'Gupkar gang'.
Shah asserted that Jammu and Kashmir will always remain an integral part of India, accusing the Gupkar alliance of its support to the foreign forces for their intervention in Jammu and Kashmir. The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is an amalgamation of mainstream political parties of J&K. In a series of tweets, the Home Minister said 'the Gupkar Gang is going global but they insult India's Tricolour'.
"Do Sonia Ji and Rahul Ji support such moves of the Gupkar Gang? They should make their stand crystal clear to the people of India," Amit Shah questioned. The Home Minister also hit out at the Congress, saying the party and the PAGD wants to take "J&K back to the era of terror and turmoil".
"They want to take away rights of Dalits, women and tribals that we have ensured by removing Article 370. This is why they're being rejected by the people everywhere."
The Home Minister made it clear that "Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always remain an integral part of India".
"Indian people will no longer tolerate an unholy 'global gathbandhan' against our national interests. Either the Gupkar Gang swims along with the national mood or else the people will sink it."
Home Minister's remarks came a day after the BharatiyaJanata Party, in the run-up to the first-ever District Development Council (DDC) polls in Jammu and Kashmir, termed the stance of the Gupkar alliance on Article 370 and the Tricolour as "anti-national" and demanded that the Congress clarify if it supported these parties or not. The alliance of about 10 regional parties has demanded the restoration of Article 370, a demand supported by some senior Congress leaders, including P. Chidambaram.
PAGD is a political alliance between the multiple mainstream regional political parties of Jammu and Kashmir aimed to restore special status along with Article 35A of the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir.
It was originally formed as Gupkar Declaration, a political movement by the major political parties such as the National Conference, Congress, Peoples Democratic Party, Communist Party of India (M), Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference and Awami National Conference on August 4, 2019, a day before Article 370 was revoked by Parliament. (IANS)
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