Modi, Shah, Doval won’t understand the pain inflicted by violence: Rahul Gandhi

If we stand with love and not hate, we will be successful, says Congress leader in his concluding speech of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, at Srinagar, amid heavy snowfall

Braving a heavy spell of snowfall, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday made the concluding speech of his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar, which was also attended by Opposition parties, and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval would not understand the pain inflicted by violence. 

Recounting incidents from the past, when violence consumed the lives of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi, at the Sher-i-Kashmir stadium here, Mr. Gandhi said, “Those who stoke violence won’t understand the pain it inflicts, nor those who have not suffered it. PM Modi, Amit Shah and Ajit Doval can’t understand the pain inflicted by violence but I can relate to the families of the Pulwama attack victims, with the hundreds of families of Kashmiris and of the security forces.” 

Refusing an umbrella in spite of heavy snowfall, Mr. Gandhi said he was warned of grenade attacks during the Kashmir leg of the yatra by the security agencies. “I chose to give a chance to those who wanted to turn the colour of my white T-shirt red. Instead, people of Kashmir came to me with affection and love, with tears in their eyes. People, young and old, accepted me and hugged me,” he said.

Mr. Gandhi also made an appeal for an end to violence in Kashmir. “The yatra’s goal in Kashmir is also to put an end to the phone calls made to the families of victims of violence. No mother, child or sister should receive such calls,” he said. 

Mr. Gandhi said he felt like going home to Kashmir, where “ kashmiriyat”, the Hindu idea of “ shunita” and the Islamic idea of “ fanna” have had deep relations for years. “We have similar examples of kashmiriyat in the other parts of the country with different names,” he added.  

He reiterated that the yatra was meant for the people of the country and was an attempt to stand up against the ideology that is “out to break the foundations of this country”. “If we stand with love and not hate, we will be successful. The BJP has shown us a way of living and we showed India’s way of living, steeped in love, diversity, harmony and brotherhood,” he added.

Heavy snowfall that started on Sunday night and continued on Monday, resulted in the closure of roads in the Valley, and impacted the grand finale of the yatra, with not many people turning up. The Congress was forced to cut short the closing ceremony. Sources said many opposition leaders, travelling by air, could not make it to the venue due to the cancellations at the Srinagar airport.