New Delhi, Oct 24 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday asked the Congress to clarify whether it endorses the demands for separating Kashmir from India and releasing the 2020 Delhi riots accused Sharjeel Imam.
This came a day after Congress MP Imran Masood visited Jamia Millia Islamia university to express solidarity with the students agitating for the restoration of the students’ union.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, party MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said the university campus boundary wall was covered with slogans like ‘Free Kashmir’ and ‘Release Sharjeel Imam’.
“What was he doing there?” he asked, adding, “We condemn it.”
Prasad said Masood’s visit to the campus amid such a situation raises “serious questions” because he is not just a Congress MP but also the working president of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.
“Does the Congress party endorse the demand, boldly written at Jamia Millia Islamia, to separate Kashmir from India? What is the Congress party’s stand on Sharjeel Imam?” he asked.
Delhi Police detained Masood near Jamia Millia Islamia on Friday after he visited the university.
The agitation began on October 12, with protesters demanding an official notification announcing a schedule for the students’ union elections. The last elections were held in 2005, and the union was dissolved in 2006.
Prasad said Jammu and Kashmir has been progressing since Article 370, which gave a special status to the erstwhile state, was scrapped.
“The transformation that has taken place across Kashmir is being praised globally. We strongly condemn any conspiracy to incite unrest on the issue of Kashmir, and we advocate for strict action (against any such move),” the BJP leader said.
Kashmir is an integral part of India and would remain so forever, Prasad added.
Sharjeel Imam, currently in judicial custody, was arrested on August 25, 2020, and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) allegedly for being one of the “masterminds” of the February 2020 riots in northeast Delhi that left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. PTI PK MNK
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