Kashmir unrest: BJP questions role of Jawaharlal Nehru after Congress targets PM Modi

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday questioned the role of the Congress Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru over the situation of Kashmir after Congress targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's for using words like 'insaniyat, Kashmiriyat, jamuriyat' in 'Mann ki baat'.

"The government is working towards it, everyone is working towards it, the state chief minister was here, met with the Prime Minister. Now if they want to politicise it and score political points by criticizing for the sake of criticizing then it begs the question that on political things, they are answerable that over 70 years, and in the 55 years that the Congress was in power, why did the problem ever be like this? Why has it ever been there for so long? What was the role of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, these political things can be answered," BJP leader Nalin Kohli told ANI.

Kohli said Congress spokespersons are criticizing for the sake of criticizing adding that everyone is concerned and efforts are being made to normalize the situation in the Kashmir Valley.

On Sunday, the Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari asserted that the lack of coherence of any policy in the government was actually worsening the situation in Kashmir, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was using words like 'insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and jamuriyat' without even knowing their actual meaning.

Commenting on the Prime Minister's reference to the Kashmir unrest in his Mann ki Baat address today, Tewari told ANI that the former has been swinging from talking of a dialogue to actually saying that the separatists are of no consequence at all.

"The Prime Minister unfortunately uses terms that he himself does not understand. Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and JPamuriyat. The Prime Minister or the Home Minister have not been able to flesh out what these words even mean," he said.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi said that any life lost in the state, whether of any youth or any security personnel, is India's loss, adding that those instigating young, innocent children will have to answer to them someday.

Addressing the nation during his address in the 23rd edition of his 'Mann ki Baat' programme, Prime Minister Modi said, "Any life lost in Kashmir, whether of any youth or any security personnel, is our own loss. Those who are trying to disrupt peace in Kashmir by instigating innocent young children, they will have to reply to these young children."

Normal life in the Kashmir Valley remains paralysed as a curfew and a shutdown continued for the 51th consecutive day on Sunday. All educational institutions, shops, public transport and other businesses are closed since July 9.

The death toll in the valley has reached 67, as another youth succumbed to his injuries in clashes that broke out between security forces and the locals in Pulwama district on Friday.