BJP holds rally against Abdullah\’s remarks

Indo-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

JAMMU - Around 30 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists were injured Thursday in a cane charge by police when they were holding a protest march here against Chief Minister Omar Abdullah\’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir had acceded to — and not merged with — India.

Angered by the observations made by Abdullah in the state legislative assembly on Wednesday when he decried BJP legislators for \”harping on Kashmir being an integral part of India\”, the party activists took out a protest rally in Jammu Thursday.

The police did not allow the protest march to proceed and resorted to heavy lathi charge. More than 30 BJP activists, including some women, were injured.

The BJP was upset with Abdullah\’s assertion that Jammu and Kashmir had \”acceded to and not merged with India\”.

State unit spokesperson of the party, Ramesh Arora said: \”The central government should wake up to the dangers looming large in J&K and on its ramifications.\”

\”Omar Abdullah should be dismissed without any delay,\” Arora said.

However, some sections in Jammu are wondering why the BJP legislators did not object to the chief minister\’s speech on Wednesday itself when they were sitting in the house.

The National Conference was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government at the centre and Omar Abdullah was a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He had stayed on as a minister even after the NDA government had rejected the autonomy resolution passed by the state assembly by a two-thirds majority.