"Fooling the people": BJP's Altaf Thakur slams NC's plan to protest in Delhi

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], June 4 : BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the National Conference (NC), dismissing the party's announcement to protest at Jantar Mantar during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament as a political gimmick meant to mislead the public.
Speaking to ANI regarding the NC's decision to hold a demonstration in New Delhi to demand the restoration of statehood and constitutional guarantees, Thakur accused the party of attempting to deceive the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
"They are fooling the people. Let me remind them, it was the National Conference that took this matter to the Court, and now they do not trust that verdict as well," the BJP leader stated.
Thakur further emphasised that the central leadership has already clarified its position on the region's future.
"The Prime Minister and the Home Minister have already stated that statehood will be restored at the right time," he asserted, questioning what message the NC intends to send by staging protests when a clear roadmap has been established.
Mocking the party's recent internal strategy session held at Dachigam National Park, Thakur remarked that the meeting lacked any substantive political vision.
"We cannot even call that a proper administrative meeting; it was merely a picnic. The Chief Minister went there as a tourist, taking along tourist-like MLAs, and they occupied Dachigam. Yesterday in Dachigam, they were simply enjoying Wazwan and nothing else came out of it," he quipped.
Thakur expressed deep concern over the timing and optics of the proposed protest, arguing that it could jeopardise the region's fragile tourism recovery.
"Following the recent tragedy in Pahalgam, it took immense effort from all stakeholders to revive our tourism sector, and tourists have finally started returning. What kind of message will be conveyed to the rest of the country if you choose to stage a political protest at Jantar Mantar? Won't it send a signal that the situation in Kashmir is currently unstable? For the hoteliers, houseboat owners, street vendors, cart-pullers, and horse-keepers of this region, this planned agitation constitutes a direct assault on their livelihoods and an attack on Kashmir's recovering economy," Thakur asserted.
His remarks came after Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) MLA Tanvir Sadiq on Wednesday said that the party legislators will hold a protest in Delhi during the monsoon session of the Parliament over the demand for statehood.
It came following the conclusion of a meeting of legislators called by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday in Srinagar.
CM Omar Abdullah took the National Conference (NC) legislators to the off-limits forest destination of Dachigam in Srinagar to analyse 19 months of the party's rule in the Union Territory (UT).