BJP leader and District Development Council (DDC) polls minder Syed Shahnawaz Hussain today hoisted the Tricolour in Bijbehara town of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, the hometown of former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti.
“In this Bijbehara town, people said the BJP couldn’t hold this big meeting. In south Kashmir’s Bijbehara area, where Mehbooba Mufti was saying that no one would hold the Tricolor, I Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, am raising the Tricolour,” Shahnawaz said. And with it, Shahnawaz Hussain along with other BJP leaders of the Valley did so.
“Today we showed by raising the Indian Tricolor that no one can dishonour the national flag. This Altaf Thakur is Kashmiri, this Surinder (Ambardar) is Kashmiri, this Sufi Yousuf is Kashmiri, this Darakshan Andrabi is Kashmiri, this Altaf Khan is Kashmiri and all those people standing here to honour the Tricolor, are all Kashmiris. They are all from Jammu and Kashmir and they salute the Tricolor,” Hussain said.
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In June 2017, the then chief minister of PDP-BJP government Mehbooba Mufti had warned that any tinkering with the special rights and privileges of the people of the state will leave no one in the Valley to hold the Tricolor. That time Mehbooba was referring to attempts to revoke Article 35(A) of the Constitution that would empower the state legislature to define “permanent residents” and accord special rights and privileges to them. Both Articles 370 and 35A were revoked on August 5, 2019, by the BJP government amid complete security siege and arrest of thousands of people, including three former chief ministers, Dr Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
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“Kashmiris here have announced that they honour the Tricolour, they honour India and say long live Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said.
“Some people wanted this rally shouldn’t be successful. They wanted Shahnawaz Hussain shouldn’t address it. A grenade was hurled here earlier in Bijbehara. And here I am Shahnawaz Hussain standing and addressing you,” he said.
One Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan on Thursday morning suffered injuries after militants lobbed a grenade in the Bijbehara town. The BJP rally was organised in the afternoon at the Bijbehara town hall.
“When my party made me in-charge of Kashmir, I decided to go. Sofi sahib, Altaf Thakur and others would come to me and ask which places I should visit. I told them that I am not the one who fears death before it comes. I won’t be afraid. They told me to come to Bijbehara. I said this Bihari will come to Bijbehara,” he added.
