*No innocent civilians be harmed
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended full support to PDP-BJP coalition Government headed by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti in tackling ongoing unrest in the Kashmir valley in the wake of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen divisional commander Burhan Wani even as the Centre declared that there can be no compromise on annual holy pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji which will go on till scheduled date of August 18.
Modi chaired a high level meeting at his 7 Race Course Residence in the Union capital at 10 am for about an hour soon after his return from the tour of 4 African nations and held comprehensive review of security situation, which has developed in the Kashmir valley after the killing of Burhan, leading to death of over 30 civilians and injuries to hundreds of others.
Official sources told the Excelsior that while extending full support and all possible assistance to Mehbooba Mufti led Government in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with working of the State Government, which has been putting all its efforts to restore normalcy in the State.
They said the Centre has rejected the charge leveled by former Chief Minister and National Conference working president Omar Abdullah questioning absence of Mehbooba Mufti from the crucial meeting chaired by the Prime Minister saying her presence was more required in Jammu and Kashmir to tackle the situation. Moreover, they said, the Centre Government representatives including Home Minister were in constant touch with the State Government to give them all kind of assistance, which they asked for.
In the meeting, Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval briefed the Prime Minister about the situation in the Kashmir valley since Friday evening when Burhan Wani along with two others was killed in Kokernag.
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Nipender Sharma, Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, Foreign Secretary Jai Shankar Singh, Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director Dineshwar Sharma and Joint Secretary Home (Kashmir Affairs) Gyanesh Sharma also attended the meeting among others.
MoS in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh told the Excelsior that the Prime Minister elicited the view of Rajnath Singh, Parrikar, Swaraj, Jaitley and others present in the meeting and steps taken by the State Government to restore peace and normalcy in the Kashmir valley. Rajnath, who has held three to four review of security situation in J&K during past three days, apprised the Prime Minister in detail about the situation.
Sources said a direction has gone to all para-military forces in Jammu and Kashmir that no innocent civilians should be harmed in anyway and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) set for para-military forces and police has to be followed strictly exercising maximum restraint.
“No innocent should be harassed while dealing with the protesters. This has been conveyed to the heads of para-military forces and Jammu and Kashmir Police, who were jointly dealing with the situation in Kashmir,” they said.
According to sources, the Prime Minister made it clear that annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji in South Kashmir, which had started on July 2 but remained suspended for three days due to present disturbances, had to go on at any cost till last day of August 18 and there can be no compromise on this.
The Centre has already provided additional troops of para-military forces and was ready to send more, if sought by the State Government for protection of Shri Amarnath Ji pilgrims but that Amarnath pilgrimage has to move uninterruptedly, sources said, adding the meeting directed all security agencies involved in Yatra security to go ahead with fool-proof arrangements for the yatra along all routes and base camps, used by the pilgrims so that no harm was done to them.
The 48-days long annual pilgrimage of Shri Amarnath Ji shrine, located at a height of 12,457 feet from sea level in Anantnag district of South Kashmir, has resumed yesterday from Jammu after remaining suspended for three days due to disturbances in the Valley. The meeting was briefed that the yatra was released from Jammu while as stranded pilgrims were cleared from Baltal and Pahalgam a day before after making all security arrangements for them enroute.
Appealing for peace and harmony in the Kashmir valley, the Prime Minister chaired high level review meeting directed senior officers of Home Ministry, para-military forces and Intelligence agencies to maintain close liaison with their Incharge in the Kashmir valley and Jammu and Kashmir administration for restoring peace in the Valley.
“The officers have been asked to keep watch on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir by speaking to heads of para-military forces, Intelligence agencies, JKP, CID etc every hour or so and share inputs between them. The officers have been asked to make available whatever assistance the J&K security agencies ask for,” sources said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a detailed resume of the entire sequence of events and the current situation in the State. The officers present briefed him about the various security and other related aspects.
Modi is said to have expressed his ‘unhappiness’ over the media coverage on violent protests in Kashmir valley following killing of Burhan Wani saying the Hizbul Mujahideen militant has been portrayed as a “hero”.
Modi was believed to have expressed ‘unhappiness’ over the media coverage of Kashmir situation saying a militant, who was involved in terror activities and was working for disintegrating the country, has been portrayed as “hero” giving more traction to his followers to whip up frenzy, sources said.
The Prime Minister has also cited the over a dozen cases registered against Wani, most of which were serious in nature under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
The meeting also reviewed the Rs 80,000 crore financial package announced by the NDA Government for Jammu and Kashmir and its implementation.
In the meeting, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar briefed the Prime Minister on Pakistan’s response to Wani’s death, including the statement issued by Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, statement by their Foreign Office and summoning of Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale by Foreign Office in Islamabad
Meanwhile, sources said, the Home Ministry was worried over the situation in Kashmir valley in next two days.
July 13 (tomorrow) is commemorated as “martyrs day” in Kashmir and Friday is the ‘jumme ki namaz’.
Intelligence agencies have reported that Pakistan-supported groups have been trying to incite violence in next two days, sources said.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that all along the Prime Minister was in constant touch during his visit abroad and had kept himself fully updated about the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. He said, the Prime Minister’s concern is evident from the fact that soon after his return to New Delhi this morning, the first thing he did was to convene a high-level meeting at 10 am to review the current situation in the State.
Dr Singh said Modi had, on his behalf and on behalf of Government of India, extended full and every possible support and assistance to the State Government in dealing with the situation. He said the Prime Minister expected that at any cost, innocent people in the Valley should not be allowed to suffer from any inconvenience or harm.
While appealing for peace and calm in the Valley, Dr Singh said, the Prime Minister had expressed satisfaction on the conduct of Amarnath Yatra as expected. He said the Prime Minister and all the other dignitaries who attended the meeting were hopeful that very soon, peace and normalcy will be restored in the Valley and life will go on as usual.
PTI adds from New Delhi:-
A high-level meeting of Border Management was today held in the Ministry of Home Affairs to take necessary measures to check infiltration through Indo-Pak border.
The meeting was chaired by Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and attended by senior officials of Home Ministry and intelligence agencies. With reports of Pakistan fuelling the protest in the Valley in aftermath of the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Home Minister Rajnath Singh to undertake the matter at high priority, sources said.
Singh has further directed the senior officials to look into the matter.
The Prime Minister, just after his return from Africa, chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the Kashmir situation.
Meanwhile, with Kashmir on the edge, Home Minister Rajnath Singh has postponed his visit to the United States to attend the Indo-US Homeland Security Dialogue scheduled for next week.
A Home Ministry official cited the busy schedule during the coming Monsoon session of Parliament beginning July 18 as the reason for the deferment of the visit.
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