“GUPKAR GANG”
A senior leader of BJP in a recent television interview called all the former chief ministers and ministers living in Gupkar road of Srinagar as “Gupkar Gang” out to obstruct peace in Kashmir valley.
He claimed that common people in Kashmir were happy with the abrogation of article 370, only the politicians with vested interests like National Conference and PDP were not happy with the abrogation of article 370.
A local BJP leader went a step further and claimed that all those mainstream political parties and leaders asking for the restoration of article 370 and the special position of Jammu and Kashmir were sympathizers of ISIS. He said that after the abrogation of article 370 in the past one year there have been no stone pelting incidents at the encounter sites and no unfurling of Pakistani flag and ISIS flag at Srinagar.
Calling former chief ministers as a gang has come in a bad taste. It is because of these “gangs” that the central government could manage a foothold in Kashmir after the rise of militancy in early 90’s.
Over 3000 political activists of the National Conference and PDP were killed by militants in the past three decades of separatism. Many of these former ministers and chief ministers were injured in the militant attack.
Instead of recognizing their sacrifices for keeping Kashmir with India, BJP has reduced them to the status of gang. It was National Conference president Farooq Abdullah who dared militants in 1996, and started the electoral process by contesting the elections.
