BJP will never undertake a walkathon in J&K as they are scared: Rahul Gandhi

The BJP top brass would never undertake a walkathon like the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir as they are scared Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Monday asserting he continued his march in the Valley despite being advised against it as he is not afraidI can guarantee you that no BJP leader can walk like this in Jammu and Kashmir They will not do it not because they wont be allowed by the people of JK but because they are scared Gandhi said addressing a rally to mark the culmination of his nearly five monthlong yatra from Kanyakumari to KashmirAlso read Aim of Bharat Jodo Yatra is to save liberal secular ethos of India RahulSpeaking amidst heavy snowfall Gandhi who wore a pheran a Kashmiri cloak said he was advised against walking the fourday Kashmir lap of the yatra on the grounds that he might be attackedWhen I was walking the security people told me I can walk anywhere in India even in Jammu but the last four days in Kashmir you should drive in a car A few days before I reached Kashmir the administration told me perhaps to scare me that if I walk then a grenade can be lobbed upon me he saidI thought over it and then decided that I am walking to my home and with my people in JK I thought why not give those who hate me a chance to change the colour of my white shirt let them make it red Gandhi who spoke at the venue without an umbrella over his head amidst heavy snowfall saidHe said he was not afraid as learnt from his family and Mahatma Gandhi to live life sans fearWhat happened was what I had thought about The people of Jammu and Kashmir did not give me hand grenades they opened their hearts and gave me love embraced me I felt immense happiness that they all owned me up Children and elderly welcomed alike me with their love and tears he saidRecalling the moments when he was informed over the phone about the assassinations of his grandmother and father former prime ministers Indira Gandhi 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi 1991 the Congress MP said the inciters to violence will never understand that painI understand violence I have endured it Those who incite violence like Modiji Amit Shahji Ajit Doval ji and the RSS will never understand this pain as they have never endured it The family of an Army man will understand the family of the CRPF personnel who were killed in Pulwama will understand I know what goes through the hearts of their childrenThe Kashmiris will understand that pain when one gets that phone call I understand that my sister understands that he said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by his sideThe aim of the yatra is to end the phone calls announcing the deaths of loved ones be it the families of soldiers CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama or any Kashmiri he addedThe Gandhi family scion said Kashmiriyat was his homeWhen I was walking to Kashmir I thought this is the same route through which years ago my relatives came from Kashmir to Allahabad I felt that I was returning to my home Since I was a child I have lived in government accommodations I do not have a houseI have never accepted these structures as my home Wherever I live it is a building not a home For me a home is a thinking it is a way of life he saidWhat you call Kashmiriyat I call that thinking my home What is Kashmiriyat It is Shiv jis thinking Its deep meaning is Shoonyata selflessness It means attacking yourself your ego your thinking In Islam it means Fanaa destruction of the self This is Kashmiriyat This thinking prevails in other states as well Gandhiji talked about Vaishno Janto Shoonyata is known as Vaishno Janto in Gujrat he addedGandhi said the same message was spread in Assam Karnataka Kerala and Maharashtra as wellIn JK we call it Kashmiriyat It means uniting each other not attacking others but self My family home in Allahabad is near the bank of River Ganga When my family went there from Kashmir they spread the thinking of Kashmiriyat in Uttar Pradesh It is known as the GangaJamuna Tehzeeb he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever