Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 21: Former MLC and JK UT spokesperson of BJP, Girdhari Lal Raina has strongly reacted to hurts caused by National Conference (NC) by terming changing names of Shankaracharya and Hariparbat hillocks in Srinagar city in its manifesto for 2024 Assembly elections as atrocious.
NC leaders who have been very critical of restoring names of historic places in the rest of the Bharat demonstrate duplicity and double standards in Kashmir, he added. Ex-MLC cautioned NC that history cannot be buried or changed by replacing the names of these highly revered places in your manifesto. You have tried these tactics of playing emotional cards on the eve of elections in the past also. But such attempts which reveal the hatred of NC and its leadership for academics and historical facts will not succeed, asserted Raina.
Raina shrugged off the attempt of NC to white wash sins it committed against the displaced Hindu community by inserting a borrowed line in the manifesto about “The dignified return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits” who were extirpated as culmination of erroneous, prejudiced and bigoted policies followed by the party when in power. He reminded the KP community about targeted venomous fake narrative of NC and its leadership post forced exodus by blaming former Governor late Jagmohan for displacement.
Raina asked NC leadership to explain disregarding the community martyrs even in the condolence resolution it adopted in 1996 in the State Legislature.
BJP spokesperson shared the concern of reserved categories of people about the NC manifesto declaration to review reservation policy. We know NC has always been against rights of deprived and underprivileged sections of the society. Now it is openly threatening to review and correct so called imbalances, Raina opined. Will they snatch reservation rights provided to SC community, people living on IB border and Pahari Qabila and OBCs, asked GLR?
Former MLC cautioned all sections of citizens of Jammu and Kashmir to understand the real nature of NC as revealed in its manifesto and appealed to them to reject NC party in forthcoming Assembly election.