Pakistan-backed Resistance Front issues threat to G N Azad, says he is a ‘BJP Agent’

• TRF claimed that Azad’s reinvigoration of J&K’s political scene is well-thought-out plan
• TRF is believed to be a shadow group of Pak-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba
• The threat letter was mad public on social media platforms
• I swear by god, have never met Doval in my life says Azad

Jammu & Kashmir: Ghulam Nabi Azad, a former leader of the Congress who recently left the party, has received a threat from The Resistance Front (TRF), a terrorist organisation linked to Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The Resistance Front (TRF) is believed to be a shadow group of the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba. The group has owned up some of the recent terror attacks in Kashmir and is also associated with other terror outfits such as Hizbul Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

The threat letter was mad public on social media platforms by the Resistance Front (TRF). The TRF asserts in an online poster that Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recent involvement in politics in Jammu and Kashmir following his uprising against the Congress is a result of a well-planned scheme by the Union home minister Amit Shah and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

The poster further stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is using displaced Kashmiri Pandits for its political agenda and Ghulam Nabi is part of the plan B of the Centre. The TRF claimed that Rahul Bhatt, a Kashmiri Hindu who was murdered as part of a targeted killing in the Kashmir Valley, was also in touch with NSA Doval.

As the former Congress leader prepares to launch his party, he has clearly conveyed that he will not mislead the people over the issue of Article 370 as only a government with a two-thirds majority in Parliament can ensure the restoration of the provision. The former Union minister said he will not raise issues over which he has no control.

Azad said only a party with a two-thirds majority in Parliament can restore the special status of the erstwhile state which was revoked by the Centre in August 2019. The former J-K chief minister said he would not promise the moon and stars to the people but only those things that can be achieved.

Azad, who ended his five-decade-long association with the Congress last month, said he will announce the formation of his new political party within 10 days and asserted that its ideology will be “independent”. The former Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said his party will focus on restoration of statehood to J-K, giving exclusive rights over jobs and land to its people and bringing development. Referring to Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari’s allegation that Azad had voted in favour of the abrogation of Article 370, he said Bukhari should first understand how Parliament works.

Meanwhile, Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday said he came across reports that The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Taiba, has issued a death threat to him. Addressing a public meeting in South Kashmir’s Anantnag, Ghulam Nabi Azad said he is scared of nothing.

“I heard about the reports that terrorists have issued a threat to kill me. They have said I met Amit Shah and Doval before coming here. I have never met Doval in my life. I swear by god. Yes, I have met Shah as he is the home minister and I was in Parliament. It was part of my work. I meet people from various parties,” he said.

Speaking about the past attacks on him, Ghulam Nabi Azad said he was targetted 50 times in Punjab and Kashmir and god saved his life. “But if god takes my life, he will take it along with the life that I have lived on principles and not lies or deceit,” he said.

At the rally, he appealed to the youngsters to shun the path of violence and blamed Pakistan for the sufferings of the people of J&K. “There are some people across the border who have not been able to set their own country right after the partition, but have taken the pledge of destroying our country and Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.

“Picking up guns is not a solution. It only brings destruction in your life, to your family and to the country. Mahatma Gandhi did not pick up a gun or a sword or did not fire a missile to defeat the British. Whichever Muslim country — from Afghanistan to Iraq to Palestine — took to guns, took to militancy, was destroyed,” Azad said.

After resigning from the Congress, Ghulam Nabi Azad is strengthening the base for his yet-to-be-launched party in J&K. Recently, he saod he won’t mislead the people of J&K by promising that Article 370 will be restored, which triggered speculations over his equation with the BJP — which the Congress has been suggesting ever since Azad quit blaming the party and Rahul Gandhi.

Timeline:
Threat
Who has threatened Azad?
As per reports, Azad has received threats from The Resistance Front (TRF), which is affiliated to the Pakistan-backed LeT. According to Firstpost, TRF issued threats to the leader on a social media platform and claimed that his entry into J&K politics after a revolt against INC is “part of a well thought out strategy by the BJP-run central government.”