Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday accused Rahul Gandhi and Congress party of insulting the country by making irresponsible remarks over the situation in Kashmir and playing into the hands of Pakistan.
"Congress has insulted the country by its irresponsible utterances. Never has India been shown in bad such light as Congress has done. There may be political differences, but nobody has spoken this kind of language that becomes a handle for Pakistan," Javadekar said in a press meet here.
The union minister referred to Gandhi's remarks of 'reports of violence in Kashmir' following the abrogation of Article 370 being used by Pakistan in their petition to the United Nation.
"Rahul Gandhi had said things in Jammu and Kashmir are going very wrong and that there are reports of violence and people dying. Where did Rahul get this information? The situation in Kashmir is not bad," said Javadekar.
"Pakistan used Rahul Gandhi's statement in their petition to the United Nation," Javadekar said.
"Acts of violence have been acknowledged by mainstream politicians such as the leader of Congress party Rahul Gandhi who noted that people are dying," he said quoting the petition.
Javadekar also expressed his surprise over the Congress party criticising the 'reasonable restrictions' in Jammu and Kashmir when "they are the ones who implemented emergency in the country for 20 months'.
"The people of Jammu and Kashmir have welcomed the decision since it will allow the laws and schemes of the central government to be implemented in the region. It will have a far-reaching impact," he said.
Javadekar also said that he wondered whether the motivation behind the opposition delegation to Srinagar was to incite violence in the region.
"It looks like whatever M Shankar Aiyar thinks becomes the ideology of the Congress party. This is nothing but vote-bank politics. After Rahul's first tweet, there was anger among the public. That is why the Congress is backtracking and taking a U-turn on their stance now," he said.
Earlier today, Gandhi had in a series of tweets said that while he disagreed with the government on many issues, Kashmir is India's internal issue and there is no room for Pakistan or any other foreign country to interfere in it.
( With inputs from ANI )