Srinagar: Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma on Sunday said the BJP had postponed its proposed July 20 protest in Jammu and Kashmir in view of the flash floods that caused loss of life and property in Poonch and Rajouri districts.
Addressing a press conference in Srinagar, Sharma said the protest, which was scheduled to begin from Ghanta Ghar in Lal Chowk and culminate at the Civil Secretariat, had been deferred on humanitarian grounds.
“Politics can wait. At this moment, humanity should come first and every political party should stand with the victims,” Sharma said, adding that the protest had been postponed and not cancelled. He said a fresh date would be announced after the situation normalised.
According to Sharma, the party had decided to defer its programme to ensure that rescue and relief operations were not hampered. He said BJP teams would immediately leave for the affected areas in Poonch and Rajouri to assist victims and extend support to affected families.
Sharma said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were closely monitoring the situation and had spoken to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to review the ground situation. He added that party leaders had also been directed to visit the affected areas and assess the situation.
Referring to the scale of the disaster, Sharma claimed that one death had been officially reported in Rajouri and another person was feared missing, while 16 deaths had been reported in Poonch. He said the figures cited by him were based on information available with the party and not official data.
He also said flash floods had affected Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and the Bani-Basohli area, although no major loss of life had been reported from these places so far.
Describing the damage in Rajouri as unprecedented, Sharma said rescue operations were still underway. He also expressed grief over the tragedy in Surankote, where, according to him, eight members of a family were swept away in the floods and three bodies had been recovered.
BJP MLA Sham Lal Sharma, vice-president Shehnaz Gania, general secretaries Gopal Mahajan and Anwar Khan, and spokesperson Zorawar Singh were also present at the press conference.
