During a rally in Jammu and Kashmir on September 25, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made an unintentional slip of the tongue, referring to “refugees from PoK” (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) instead of “Kashmiri Pandits.” While addressing the crowd, he realized his mistake and quickly corrected himself.
A Mistake Caught Mid-Speech
Gandhi was speaking about promises made by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to refugees. He initially said, “the promise made to refugees from PoK will be fulfilled,” but immediately corrected it to say “the promises made to Kashmiri Pandits will be fulfilled.” He then apologized, saying, “Sorry… Kashmiri Pandits… promises made to Kashmiri Pandits will be fulfilled.”
BJP Seizes on Gandhi’s Error
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) quickly took advantage of Gandhi’s verbal slip. Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya took to social media, criticizing Gandhi for confusing refugees from PoK with Kashmiri Pandits. Malviya referenced Congress’s overseas leader Sam Pitroda, sarcastically claiming that despite Pitroda’s defense, Gandhi continues to make mistakes. “A man who is the Leader of Opposition can’t distinguish between PoK refugees and Kashmiri Pandits,” Malviya commented in his post on X.
Local BJP Leaders Join in Criticism
Senior party leader Amit Malviya, in a jibe at Gandhi, said overseas Congress leader Sam Pitroda wants everyone to believe “he is not Pappu anymore”. He said the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha could not distinguish between PoK refugees and Kashmiri Pandits.
“Then Sam Pitroda wants us to believe that he isn’t Pappu anymore… a man who is the Leader of Opposition can’t distinguish between refugees from PoK and Kashmiri Pandits. The mess in Kashmir is a legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru. As if that wasn’t enough, we now have Rahul Gandhi also,” he said in a post on X with a video of the speech.
Andhra Pradesh BJP leader Vishnu Vardhan Reddy also commented on Gandhi’s mistake, suggesting that Gandhi unintentionally spoke the truth. He wrote, “Kudos to Rahul Gandhi for speaking the actual truth, even though by mistake,” implying that his statement reflected deeper issues. In another post, Reddy questioned Gandhi’s stance on Jammu and Kashmir, accusing him of considering the Indian government as an outsider for the region while advocating talks with Pakistan.
Gandhi’s Push for J&K Statehood
During his rallies in Jammu and Sopore, Gandhi focused on the need to restore Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, which was revoked in 2019. He highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir had been unfairly demoted to Union Territory status, describing it as an injustice. “This is an injustice to you. Your democratic rights have been snatched away from you,” he told the gathering in Jammu.
A Commitment to Restoring Democratic Rights
Gandhi reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir should be governed by its own people, not by outsiders. He expressed disappointment that statehood had not been restored before elections but assured the crowd that his party would push for it. “We had thought that you would get back the statehood before elections. That would have been the correct way… But it is fine that they are conducting elections first. But we want your democratic rights, the statehood of J&K, to be given back to you,” he said.
Promise of Action by the INDIA Alliance
In Sopore, Gandhi repeated his pledge to restore statehood to J&K, vowing that the INDIA bloc would pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in Parliament to take action. “If they don’t do this, then we will restore your statehood as soon as the INDIA alliance forms the government at the Centre,” Gandhi said, criticizing the BJP for spreading an “ideology of hatred” across the country.