KOLKATA, May 26: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said the Bharatiya Janata Party still stood by its agenda of abrogating Article 370 of the constitution, while asserting that the Government would not tolerate anyone raising pro-Pakistan slogans.
“There are no two ways about our stand on Article 370,” he said. “But a new Government has come to power in Jammu and Kashmir and the BJP, for the first time, has got the opportunity to be part of the State Government. So let development take place first,” he told a press conference here.
His statement came in reply to a question on the BJP’s longstanding demand for abrogation of Article 370 which gives a special status to Jammu and Kashmir. “Whatever we want to do we will do it taking in confidence the common masses,” he said.
Replying to a query on the recent incidents of Pakistan flags being hoisted in Kashmir by separatists, Mr Singh said, “We cannot allow anybody to give a slogan of ‘Pakistan zindabad’ on the Indian soil. BJP believes that all Indians, be it Hindus, Muslim or Christians, are Nationalists. “But if anyone standing on Indian soil shouts Pakistan Zindabad, then no matter from which religion he belongs, the Government will not accept that,” he said.
“We all know why Masarat Alam was arrested,” the Home minister said, referring to the separatist leader who waved Pakistan flag and chanted pro-Pakistan slogans in a rally near Srinagar last month to welcome hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani.
The Home Minister said both the Centre and the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed-led Jammu and Kashmir Government were committed towards the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. “As regards the rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandits, we have created a fund. We have been talking to J&K Chief Minister and he has assured that he will provide land to the Kashmiri pundits for their rehabilitation,” he added. (UNI)
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