SRINAGAR: A day after chief minister Omar Abdullah hit out at Congress for its criticism over full rendition of Vande Mataram and wondered if the party wanted Kashmiris to be arrested, J&K Congress president Tariq Hamid Karra sharpened the attack on ally NC, describing Omar’s comment as “detached from reality and highly unfortunate”.“The public has nothing to do with this debate. It is the govt that is expected to stand upright,” Karra said Friday in a statement. “Did a single person in Kerala go to jail when its govt chose to sing only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram at the Independence Day parade?” he asked.
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Karra also questioned if Omar was “capable of standing up for secular and inclusive values like the CMs of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Telangana had done by limiting Vande Mataram singing to first two stanzas at state events?”Earlier in the day, J&K deputy CM Surinder Choudhary had also dismissed Congress’s criticism, saying “Vande Mataram is our national song and we are proud of it”.On Thursday, Omar had said singing of the national song was a statutory and constitutional obligation, while responding to Congress’s objection to full rendition of Vande Mataram at the inaugural ceremony of the International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir. “All six stanzas of the national song must be played across the country at the govt events,” he said.Pointing out that legal action could be taken against those who failed to stand during the entire national song, Omar questioned whether Congress wanted more Kashmiris to be jailed.