Shiv Sena leader Manish Sahni said on Wednesday that his unit will participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, when it enters Jammu and Kashmir the next week, according to reports.
In addition to praising Mr. Gandhi for the effort, Mr. Sahni, president of the J-K unit of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), urged people to participate in the march in large numbers in order to “give a befitting reply to those who do politics of hatred and religion.”
“We will welcome and join the Bharat Jodo Yatra on its arrival in the city of temples as per the instructions of party’s national secretary and MP Anil Desai. In this era of despair and hatred, the Yatra which is carrying the message of brotherhood is most needed in the country, especially in Jammu and Kashmir,” he told reporters here.
He claimed that casteism and religion are being used as a means of distracting the public from a number of significant challenges, such as unemployment, inflation, and economic instability.
He added that people have been waiting for the restoration of the democratic process for the past three years. “Jammu and Kashmir, the crown of the country, is suffering after it was split into two union territories (in August 2019) and its special status under Article 370 was taken away,” he said, according to news agency PTI.
He further stated that in recent years, there has been an increase in terrorist attacks against minorities.
By January 30, Gandhi will hoist the national flag in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, where the Yatra, which began on September 7 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, will have come to an end. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana have all been visited by the march thus far.
(With inputs from news agency PTI)
The Chenab Times News Desk