SRINAGAR: The National Conference (NC) has strongly criticised Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari for his remarks urging tourists to avoid visiting Kashmir.
Adhikari had recently suggested that people should choose destinations like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, or Odisha over Kashmir, citing security concerns. His comments come at a time when Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is visiting West Bengal to promote tourism in the Union Territory. Abdullah had met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday and invited her to visit Kashmir, stating that tourist footfall had resumed after the April terror attack in Pahalgam.
Reacting to Adhikari’s remarks, NC chief spokesperson and legislator Tanvir Sadiq called the statement “deeply shameful.”
“It is deeply shameful that at a time when the entire country is standing with Jammu and Kashmir, the Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal @SuvenduWB is spewing such hate-filled, divisive, and communal rhetoric,” Sadiq wrote on X.
He added that the people of Kashmir have stood by the nation not out of compulsion, but because it was the right thing to do. “When we are right, the nation must stand with us. Suvendu Adhikari’s statement is not just irresponsible, it is dangerous. He insults not only the people of Kashmir but the very idea of India, where unity in diversity is our strength.”
Sadiq also urged political leaders across the spectrum to condemn what he termed “vile thinking,” stating that the issue goes beyond Kashmir and touches on the soul of India.
