I don’t live in Kashmir: Salman Khurshid’s evasive reply on prosperity after row over Article 370 remarks

New Delhi: Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Thursday dodged a direct reply on the ‘growing prosperity’ in Jammu and Kashmir after the Abrogation of Article 370, a claim he made while putting forth India’s message against terrorism before the world during Operation Sindoor global outreach. He rather stated that the ‘demand for statehood’ is the real concern and issue before the residents of the Union Territory, which must be addressed as a priority.

The former External Affairs Minister, in conversation with IANS, remained evasive on his previous claims of prosperity in the valley, in the post Article 370 era and rather targeted the Centre for not paying attention to statehood demands of people as well as elected representatives.

When questioned on Kashmir’s new growth trajectory after Article 370, the Congress leader said in a sulking tone, “I don’t know, you tell me whether development has happened or not. Why are you asking me? I don’t live in Kashmir. I only visit occasionally.”

“The real issue in Kashmir is about statehood. The people who were elected there in the elections are demanding that statehood be restored. We are all united on that point. So it’s better if we focus on that issue,” he added.

Khurshid’s digression from his previous stand is seen as a clear flip-flop, apparently on the back of the party conveying its strong displeasure to the veteran, though discreetly.

Salman Khurshid ruffled many feathers in the Congress party with his recent ‘admission’ of prosperity returning to Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370. His remarks came close on the back of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s claims that the security forces crossed the border to punish the perpetrators of terrorism for the first time under the Modi government. It left the grand old party red-faced, however, the Congress remained tight-lipped in rebuking him, unlike the Thiruvananthapuram lawmaker.

Khurshid also voiced his distress over questions being raised at home, and asked on X, “When on mission against terrorism, to carry India’s message to the world, it’s distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?”

“Kashmir had a major problem for a long time. After Article 370 abrogation, there was an election and 65% participation. There is an elected government in Kashmir today, and therefore, for people to want to undo everything that has happened, the prosperity that has come to Kashmir, it is very unfortunate. It will give a setback to anybody,” Khurshid had told a gathering of think tanks and academia in Indonesia.

Congress stood silent on the controversy, however, a couple of BJP spokespersons used his remark to embarrass the Congress.

BJP MP Sambit Patra called for relaying his message on J&K’s transformation to Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, while party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala asked whether he (Khurshid) would also be dubbed BJP’s ‘super spokesperson’ after the Congress leader busted his own party’s narrative on Article 370.

IANS