Modi's Kashmir policy gave Pak a reason to misbehave: Rahul Gandhi

"I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added.

The Centre's Kashmir policy has given Pakistan an opportunity to misbehave, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said.

His attack on the government at a party rally comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to the Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would.

"He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," Rahul said.

Claiming that he worked on the J&K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month".

Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K.

"We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said.

"We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event.

Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was the "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one

"I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added.

Hitting out at the foreign policy of the Modi government, Rahul accused the PM of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia.

"Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged.

OneIndia News