The Congress stops the yatra in Kashmir because of security concerns.
Rahul Gandhi entered Kashmir on Friday and was greeted by thousands of people holding Congress flags and shouting “Jodo, jodo Bharat jodo” and “Chhodo, chhodo nafrat chodo.” However, he was only able to travel about a kilometre before his Bharat Jodo Yatra was called off for the day because of an alleged security breach.
The Congress said that the police didn’t keep Rahul and others safe enough, but the officers said that wasn’t true. They said that the leaders of the party had stopped the Yatra without talking to the police.
From Banihal, the Yatra went through Qazigund and was going to walk 16 km to Anantnag. At Banihal, Rahul was joined by Omar Abdullah, the leader of the National Conference. Both men wore white T-shirts. But as soon as the yatris left the Banihal tunnel, which connects Jammu to Kashmir, a crowd surrounded the two leaders and their assistants and pushed them around.
Even the Congress seemed surprised by how many people showed up, even though it was cold and rainy and only 7 degrees Celsius.
As Rahul’s security ring failed to keep the crowd under control, more police and paramilitary forces were sent in. However, Rahul’s security was not happy with the new security plan and told him to stop walking.
The leaders then got into cars and drove to Anantnag while the rest of the yatris kept walking.
At a press conference in Anantnag that was called quickly, Rahul said, “This morning we had a large crowd, and we were looking forward to continuing the Bharat Jodo Yatra.” But the police plans fell apart, and the people who were supposed to control the crowd and hold the rope (to keep people away) were nowhere to be found. The people in charge of my security didn’t like the idea of me walking the Yatra, so I had to cancel it.
राजनीति अपनी जगह है पर कश्मीर घाटी में @RahulGandhi की सुरक्षा से खिलवाड़ करके सरकार ने अपने निम्नतम से भी निम्नतम स्तर का प्रदर्शन किया है।
भारत पहले ही इन्दिरा गांधी जी और राजीव गांधी जी को खो चुका है, किसी भी सरकार या प्रशासन को ऐसे मामलों पर राजनीति करने से बाज आना चाहिए।
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) January 27, 2023
The Congress leader hoped that the same thing wouldn’t happen again during the last three days of the Yatra in Kashmir, which will end on January 30 in Srinagar.
I’m witness to this. The outer ring of the cordon which was maintained by J&K police simply vanished within minutes of @RahulGandhi starting to walk. We had just crossed in to Kashmir from Jammu & were looking forward to the 11 KM walk but unfortunately it had to be cancelled. https://t.co/H2DByCRYCi
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) January 27, 2023
Jairam Ramesh, who is in charge of communications for the Congress, said, “We had to walk 16 km from Banihal to Anantnag, but we could barely walk 4 km. Everything that happened today was sad.”
The J&K Police said in a series of tweets that they had taken all the necessary steps to keep the Yatra safe. “Only people who had been given permission by the organisers and who had been searched were allowed to go inside toward the Yatra route. “The organisers and managers of (Bharat Jodo Yatra) did not tell us about the large group from Banihal that joined the Yatra and crowded near the starting point,” the police said, adding that they had sent 15 companies of paramilitary forces and 10 companies of police, including quick response teams.
The police also said that they were not asked what they thought before any decision was made to end the Yatra. “The rest of the Yatra went on without a hitch. The police said, “There was no security breach at all.”
Full #security arrangements were in place including 15 Coys of CAPFs and 10 Coys of JKP, comprising of ROPs and QRTs, route domination, lateral deployment and SFs were deployed for high-ridge and other deployments.
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) January 27, 2023
The police also said that they were not asked what they thought before any decision was made to end the Yatra. “The rest of the Yatra went on without a hitch. The police said, “There was no security breach at all.”
