 "BJP seeks apology from Geelani over Modi emissary row")
A claim made by hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani that its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had sent emissaries to meet him on the Kashmir issue got a resounding denial from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that contested it forcefully.
From the BJP’s standpoint, it was important to loudly contest such a claim, as such a meeting would have meant that the BJP might have been softening its stand on the status of Jammu and Kashmir and taking a more benign view of the role of the separatists in the whole Kashmir discourse.
Dismissing Geelani’s claims as “baseless and mischievous”, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said no representative of the Gujarat chief minister has ever met the separatist leader.
Geelani had on Friday claimed that two emissaries of Modi had approached him on March 22 for a meeting with him, while he was in Delhi for treatment. The separatist leader said he rejected the offer, citing Modi’s RSS background.
“The BJP would like to emphasise that the said claim is totally baseless, unfounded, mischievous, malicious and full of prejudices against the BJP. We would like to highlight very clearly and categorically and with full sense of responsibility that no representative of Modi has ever met Geelani,” he said.
Interestingly, newspapers in Kashmir reported that the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the biggest groups in the Hurriyat Conference of which Geelani is the chairman, said no one sent by Modi had met them.
Ameer-i-Jamaat (chief) Mohammad Abdullah Wani said, “No one from Narendra Modi or BJP met me. They may have met Geelani because he is a big leader but as far as I am concerned, nobody met me.”
Denying Geelani’s claim, Jama’at spokesman Advocate Zahid Ali said, “As far as I know, no such thing took place.”
Prasad said, “The BJP firmly believes Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the BJP is committed to development of J&K where good governance is the biggest casualty and where corruption has led to loss of development and progress.”
“People of the state need a corruption-free administration. Young people need jobs, need development, good governance. But getting these fundamental issues addressed, separatist leaders tried to cloud the aspiration of youth,” he said.
He said, “BJP strongly condemns it and reiterates that J&K is an integral part of India. BJP is firmly committed to the development of the state.”
From the BJP’s standpoint, it was important to loudly contest such a claim, as such a meeting would have meant that the BJP might have been softening its stand on the status of Jammu and Kashmir and taking a more benign view of the role of the separatists in the whole Kashmir discourse.
Dismissing Geelani’s claims as “baseless and mischievous”, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said no representative of the Gujarat chief minister has ever met the separatist leader.
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“We would like to demand from Geelani that he must apologise for making this false and unfounded statement,” Prasad told reporters here.
Geelani had on Friday claimed that two emissaries of Modi had approached him on March 22 for a meeting with him, while he was in Delhi for treatment. The separatist leader said he rejected the offer, citing Modi’s RSS background.
“The BJP would like to emphasise that the said claim is totally baseless, unfounded, mischievous, malicious and full of prejudices against the BJP. We would like to highlight very clearly and categorically and with full sense of responsibility that no representative of Modi has ever met Geelani,” he said.
Interestingly, newspapers in Kashmir reported that the Jamaat-e-Islami, one of the biggest groups in the Hurriyat Conference of which Geelani is the chairman, said no one sent by Modi had met them.
Ameer-i-Jamaat (chief) Mohammad Abdullah Wani said, “No one from Narendra Modi or BJP met me. They may have met Geelani because he is a big leader but as far as I am concerned, nobody met me.”
Denying Geelani’s claim, Jama’at spokesman Advocate Zahid Ali said, “As far as I know, no such thing took place.”
Prasad said, “The BJP firmly believes Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the BJP is committed to development of J&K where good governance is the biggest casualty and where corruption has led to loss of development and progress.”
“People of the state need a corruption-free administration. Young people need jobs, need development, good governance. But getting these fundamental issues addressed, separatist leaders tried to cloud the aspiration of youth,” he said.
He said, “BJP strongly condemns it and reiterates that J&K is an integral part of India. BJP is firmly committed to the development of the state.”