Rift in J&K Congress over ‘Martyrs’ Day’ issue
New Delhi: A rift has emerged within the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress over the ‘Martyrs’ Day which is commemorated every year on July 13 in the Valley.
The rift came to the fore with senior state Congress leader Saifuddin Soz on Thursday slamming his party colleague Vikramaditya Singh for his “obnoxious remarks” on the developments that took place in 1931 and wrote to Rahul Gandhi, demanding his expulsion from the party.
He was referring to a tweet by Vikramaditya Singh, son of veteran Congress leader Karan Singh and grandson of the last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh.
“Martyrs’ Day should be honoured for those thousands of heroes who have sacrificed their lives for our Nation. On 13th July 1931, plunder, loot & rape by criminals & jailbreakers in Srinagar city was put to an end. It is a blot on J&K that this is glorified as State Martyrs Day,” Vikramaditya, a former member of the Legislative Council, tweeted five days back.
On July 13, 1931, the government headed by Hari Singh had crushed a protest in Srinagar, in which 22 people were killed.
Soz, former state Congress President, reacted sharply to Vikramaditya Singh’s tweet.
“Vikramaditya Singh’s obnoxious remarks regarding the martyrdom of innocent Kashmiris massacred by Dogra Army on 13th July, 1931 deserves the strongest condemnation,” said Soz in a statement.
“The right course for this sick mind is to travel to Nagpur and beg for the membership of RSS and find the balm to his sick mind, there,” Soz said.
The former Union Minister said he had written to “Congress President” Rahul Gandhi “strongly against” Vikramaditya Singh and “asked him to see such a sick mind out of the Congress party”.
He insisted that “no condemnation” would be enough to “save the Congress cadres from the bad impact of these remarks”.
“I have further argued with Rahul Gandhi that it would be inviting trouble for the party if such a person continues to be in the Congress nourishing the RSS ideology,” Soz added.