‘Is it so difficult to be patriotic?' Khurshid after remarks backing end of Article 370

Indian Express

02-06-2025

Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Monday said it was 'distressing' that while he is abroad on a 'mission against terrorism', people 'at home' are 'calculating political allegiances'.
The Congress leader's comments come days after he backed the abrogation of Article 370, which granted special status to J&K, prompting the BJP to target his party that holds a nuanced position on the issue.
When on mission against terrorism, to carry India's message to the world, it's distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?' Khurshid said in a post on X during a visit to Kuala Lumpur as part of an all-party delegation to rally support for India's war against terror emanating from Pakistan.
He later told news agency ANI: 'People keep saying, 'what are you doing in a delegation where there are people from BJP. What are you doing there?' What are we doing here? We are doing here is, what is needed for the country. No matter which party you are from, today what is needed is a single voice to speak in favour of the nation and that is what we are doing here.'
I think when I say, is it so difficult to be patriot? — that is the question that has to be asked of those who are putting out tweets and saying things that I think I believe are not very encouraging when you want to do something for the nation,' he said.
The delegation of which Khurshid is a member is led by JD(U)'s Sanjay Kumar Jha and includes BJP MPs Aparajita Sarangi, Brij Lal, Pradan Baruah and Hemang Joshi; TMC's Abhishek Banerjee and CPI (M)'s John Brittas. It has been tasked with visiting Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and Singapore.
In Jakarta Friday, Khurshid told think tanks and academia: 'Kashmir had a major, major problem for a long time. Much of that was reflected in the thinking of the government in an Article called 370 of the Constitution, which somehow gave the impression that it (Kashmir) was separate from the rest of the country. Article 370 was abrogated, finally put to an end, because so much time had passed. Subsequently, there was an election and 65% participation. There is an elected government in Kashmir today, and therefore, for people to want to undo everything that has happened, the prosperity that has come to Kashmir, it is very unfortunate. It will give a setback to anybody.'
Following Khurshid's remarks, while the Congress refused to comment, BJP leaders targeted the party, with Puri MP Sambit Patra saying somebody should relay the comments to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said he 'hopes the Congress does not designate Salman Khurshid as 'super pravakta (super spokesperson)' after he has busted their narrative on 370'. It was a dig at Congress spokesperson Udit Raj who recently said party MP Shashi Tharoor, who is leading one of the delegations, should be designated by the BJP as a 'super spokesperson'.
'Will Rahul Gandhi admit Article 370 was his family blunder? Even Salman Khurshid has now lauded its removal,' said Poonawala.