In Valley,Rahul waits for questions — and gets some answers too

A student recorded the interaction and this is what Rahul Gandhi told the students: “I was only 14 years old,I was sitting inside the classroom looking out of a window and suddenly someone came in the classroom and the teacher stopped teaching. He shared something with the teacher and asked me to come to (the) principal’s room. A woman,on phone,told me to reach home immediately. My grandmother had been killed,” Rahul Gandhi said. “This had happened to me also. I am a Kashmiri.”

Rahul’s speech was interrupted by a student,Usman Gani. “You were 14 years old when your grandmother was killed,I was only nine years old when my father was killed,” he said,to which Rahul didn’t respond.

Rahul took a dozen questions from the students. The first was asked by a woman student from KU’s management department: “Why are multinational companies not coming here?’’ Rahul invited the student to Delhi and said: “We will arrange your meeting with the ministries concerned and they will answer all your questions.’’

A student asked him,””Why did you protect (Chief Minister) Omar Abdullah during the mass uprising last year?” Rahul didn’t reply. Abdullah is in Singapore on a private visit.

No politician — including any one from the J&K Congress — was with Rahul. Rahul was accompanied only by Youth Congress leader Mohan Prakash.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel had turned the venue into a fortress. The university’s entry points were sealed,cellphones were not allowed,the media was barred.

A student asked him why FIRs were not registered against police and paramilitary men responsible for civilian killings in Kashmir. “I will not talk about politics,” Rahul said.

“We can’t even involve ourselves in sports”” said a student.””Our stadia are occupied by security forces.” Rahul replied: “Give me specific names of the places. I will help you out.”