Congress says PM Narendra Modi's 'tourism or terrorism' counsel to Kashmiri youth ill timed

NEW DELHI: Congress termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "tourism or terrorism" offer to Kashmiri youth as a "rhetorical no-brainer and not an offer", asking the BJP mascot to introspect on why the situation was deteriorating in the troubled state.
Reacting to PM's Udhampur speech after the inauguration of a tunnel on Sunday, AICC spokesman Manish Tewari said, "Modi should introspect if Jammu and Kashmir and the Kashmir valley requires estrangement or engagement."
Tewari cautioned that "tunnel development" model "does not take you anywhere", adding that alienation in Kashmir had increased over last year under the BJP government at the Centre and BJP-PDP regime in Srinagar.According to Congress leaders, the "tourism or terrorism" choice hurled by the PM was ill-timed as the valley was seeing a rise in "alienation" amid inputs that coming summer could turn out to be testing for the security forces and civilian administration both. "We would have appreciated a more nuanced, better directed outreach from the PM," a senior party man said.
The lead opposition player said Modi has to consider the fact that there is no civilian outreach to separatists and the state government is not popular with the youth, which makes the state vulnerable. "The Centre is putting all its eggs in the basket of 'law and order approach'. It may turn out to be costly," an AICC office-bearer said.