In his address to the Tiranga Rally to Shahjahanpur (UP), and later at a function to unveil a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji at Lucknow University, Home Minister Rajnath Singh directly made a mention of the disturbed situation in Kashmir, and raised the finger of accusation at Pakistan. Without mincing words, the Home Minister said that what was happening in Kashmir was the result of that pervert mindset which Pakistani rulers had inherited from the British.
At a time when Pakistan’s internal problems have become extremely complicated and critical owing to pressure from jihadi legions, it wants outlets to steam off the resentment of the people at large who feel that the Government is unable to deliver the goods. Unfortunately, some intransigent people in Kashmir have become the victims of a malicious anti-India propaganda unleashed by Pakistan to divert the attention of disgruntled people in different parts of that country like Baluchistan, Sindh, PoK, Gilgit and Baltistan. People of these regions are fed up with the hegemony of Punjabis who have grabbed 90 per cent jobs in Pakistan army and nearly 80 per cent jobs in federal Government. Pakistan army’s strafing and indiscriminate bombing of frontier villages and settlements have alienated the people of PoK from Punjabi rulers. Pakistan army is obtaining millions of dollars from the United States to engineer the pogroms of the people of that region. Recently, Pakistan conducted elections in PoK in which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N party was declared to have won landslide victory. Within hours of the announcement of the result, widespread resentment among the people of PoK triggered off. Massive demonstrations have been held in protest of rigged elections and the agitation has not died down. Agitators demanded cancellation of the result and holding of fresh elections. It was in the victory rally of PML-N party that Pakistani Prime Minister said that Pakistan was waiting for the day when Kashmir would become its part. This public utterance has poured cold water on the aspirations of those who have been demanding ‘azaadi’. How will they react to this utterance is an interesting question. Those who have raised the slogan of ‘azaadi’ know that nobody takes them seriously because it is a slogan actually for secession from India and accession to Pakistan.
The freedom which the minorities in India, including Kashmir, enjoys under Indian constitution is not to be found in any Islamic State. This is what many broad-minded Muslim thinkers in India have acknowledged. It is not any obligation on them but that is what the Indian Constitution provides. In particular, Kashmir region has witnessed enormous prosperity in last two decades and half. There is hardly a family whose one or two members are not absorbed in Government service. Hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri students are studying in different universities and colleges outside the State and most of them are getting scholarships under special schemes of the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. Education has spread to farthest nook of the valley and even access to higher education for the rural and far off population has also been ensured. Many profitable schemes of imparting various skills to the youth and make them self sufficient have been floated by the Government. It is no obligation because the people of Kashmir are part and parcel of the Indian nation and they have the right to enjoy development in all facets. We hope Kashmiri people, especially the youth, will heed the appeal and advice of the Home Minister and shun violence. The Home Minister is ready to talk to them to understand their grievances and find amicable solutions.
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