Cong dubs continued use of pellet guns in Kashmir as betrayal

Srinagar, Aug 30: Congress today said the decision to continue use of pellet guns in controlling protests in Kashmir was very upsetting and amounted to "betrayal" of the Opposition which was given to understand that these would be stopped.

"Well, this has made us very upset. At the national level, we were all one when we raised our voice against the use of pellet guns and we were told on the floor of the House that a committee has been constituted and whatever recommendations will come we will implement and we were privately given to understand that the use of pellet guns will not be there," Congress general secretary and leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on reports about the Centre deciding to continue use of pellet guns in Kashmir even as other alternatives would also be used.

Azad said there was another delegation led by former chief minister Omar Abdullah, which met President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and everybody in Delhi.

Omar and the all-party delegation led by him to Delhi also made the leadership understand that there should not be use of any pellet guns, he said.

"But, it is very sad that the demand made by all party leaders in both houses of Parliament and the demand made by the all party leaders from J-K has been totally neglected. We are totally upset with this decision of the government. It amounts to a betrayal of sorts," he said.

Azad said sending an all-party delegation to Kashmir was not an initiative of the government but it was a demand made by the Opposition parties.

"No, I don't think this was their initiative. They never wanted then we would not have to fight so long. We had to fight it, we had to fight for this all party delegation again and again inside the Parliament and outside the Parliament," he said.

PTI