Does Congress support separate flag for J&K? Amit Shah’s 10 questions to Rahul Gandhi on alliance with NC

Union Home Minister and BJP leader Amit Shah posed 10 questions to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, demanding clarification on the grand old party’s stand on a host of issues as it forges an alliance with Farooq Abdullah’s National Conference. Farooq Abdullah announced the Congress-NC alliance for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections 2024 on Thursday.

Amit Shah hit out at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi over the alliance and alleged that the Congress “repeatedly risked the nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power”.

“The Congress party, which has repeatedly risked the nation’s unity and security to satiate its greed for power, has once again exposed its ulterior motives by allying with the Abdullah family’s ‘National Conference’ in the Jammu and Kashmir elections,” Amit Shah said.

Amit Shah said the NC-Congress alliance has exposed “the Congress party’s anti-reservation stance”. He took to X on Friday to ask the Congress and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi 10 questions, demanding the leader to clarify his party’s stand on several issues.

The 10 questions asked by Amit Shah are:

1. Does the Congress support the National Conference’s promise of a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir?

2. Do Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party support the JKNC’s decision to restore Article 370 and 35A, and thereby push Jammu and Kashmir back into an era of unrest and terrorism?

3. Does the Congress support promoting separatism again by engaging in dialogue with Pakistan instead of Kashmir’s youth?

4. Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the National Conference’s decision to start ‘LoC Trade’ with Pakistan, thereby nurturing terrorism and its ecosystem across the border?

5. Does Congress support reinstating relatives of those involved in terrorism and stone-pelting into government jobs, thereby bringing back terrorism, extremism, and the era of strikes?

6. Does Congress support the JKNC’s promise to end reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakarwals, and Pahadi communities, thereby inflicting injustice upon them?

7. Does the Congress want ‘Shankaracharya Hill,’ to be known as ‘Takht-e-Suleiman,’ and ‘Hari Hill’ as ‘Koh-e-Maran’?

8. Does the Congress support the politics of pushing Jammu and Kashmir’s economy back into corruption and handing it over to selected Pakistan-supported families?

9. Does the Congress party support the JKNC’s politics of discrimination between Jammu and the Valley?

10. Do the Congress party and Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC’s divisive politics of granting autonomy to Kashmir?

In another post on X, Shah said that after allying with the National Conference, Rahul Gandhi “should now clarify the Congress Party’s stand on reservation policy”. He asked again, “Does Rahul Gandhi support the JKNC manifesto, which calls for abolishing reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Pahadis?”

What NC manifesto for J&K polls says

The NC’s manifesto for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections doesn’t clearly specify reservations for Dalits, Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Pahadis.

The manifesto just promises to include reservations for Sikhs in government jobs under SRO 425, similar to the provisions for Kashmiri NonMigrant Pandits. “This will ensure fair employment opportunities and support their socioeconomic upliftment,” the manifesto read.

It added that the NC will support the reservation of two seats in the J&K Assembly — one for each region, Jammu and Kashmir — to ensure adequate representation for the Sikh community.

The NC has further promised “to restore 370-35A, and Statehood as prior to August 5 2019. “In the interim period, we will endeavour to redraw the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, and the Transaction of Business of the Government of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Rules, 2019,” the NC’s manifesto read.

Before the abolition of Article 370 in August 2019, the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had its own flag and constitution.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly Elections will be held three phases – on September 18, September 25 and October 1. The results will be declared for both the assembly elections on October 4, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced.