‘Ready for talks with Pak if it stops terrorism in J&K’
* BJP will form Govt with clear majority in UT
* Cong practised religious discrimination: Dr Jitendra
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 8: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said the BJP will make Jammu and Kashmir such a developed region of the country that people of Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) will themselves say that they want to join India. He added that India is ready to start dialogue with Pakistan if it stops terrorism in J&K.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
Addressing two massive election rallies at Ramban and Banihal Assembly constituencies in Ramban district in favour of BJP candidates Rakesh Singh Thakur and Mohammad Saleem Bhat respectively today, Rajnath said the people of PoJK are our own but Pakistan considers them foreigners.
He called upon the PoJK people to come and join India as “we consider you our own unlike Pakistan which treats you as foreigners”.
Urging the people to support BJP in formation of next Government in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajnath said the BJP will facilitate massive development here which will be such that the people of PoJK will themselves say that they don’t want to live with Pakistan and will like to go to India. Click here to watch video
Pointing out that an affidavit filed by Pakistan’s Additional Solicitor General stated that PoJK is a foreign land, the Defence Minister said Pakistan considers PoJK people as foreigners but the people of India consider them as our own.
“So come and join us,” he called upon the PoJK residents.
Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Dr Jitendra Singh in whose Parliamentary constituency Ramban and Banihal seats fall was also present and addressed both the rallies.
BJP has fielded Mohammad Saleem Bhat in Banihal where former PCC (I) chief and two-time MLA Vikar Rasool is the Congress nominee, Sajjad Shaheen is in the fray as NC candidate and Imtiyaz Sham is from PDP. In Ramban, BJP has given mandate to Rakesh Singh Thakur while party expelled party leader Suraj Singh Parihar is contesting as an Independent. Arjun Singh Raju is the NC candidate while Congress is supporting him as part of the seat-sharing agreement of two parties.
Rajnath said India is ready to start dialogue with Pakistan if it stops terrorism in J&K.
“Some people want us to talk to Pakistan. I want to tell them… Pakistan should stop supporting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
However, he didn’t name NC and PDP leaders who generally call for talks with Pakistan.
“Who would not like to improve relations with neighbouring countries? Because I know the reality that you can change a friend but not your neighbour. We want improved relations with Pakistan but first of all they should stop terrorism,” the Defence Minister said, adding when Pakistan stops sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, India will start dialogue with them.
Asserting that not only the entire world but entire country is closely watching the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections, Rajnath Singh said before abrogation of Article 370, the voter turnout in J&K used to be between 6 to 12 percent but after its scrapping the voting percentage went up to 58 percent in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. The percentage was 72 in Ladakh.
He said he firmly believes that the BJP will form the next Government with a clear majority.
Coming down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370, the Defence Minister said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there. He added that Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to J-K, was revoked to end the misery of the people and make the region prosperous. This provision will not be restored as long as the BJP is there, he asserted.
He said the “sea change” witnessed in the overall security situation in J-K since August 2019 means that youths now carry laptops and computers in their hands instead of pistols and revolvers.
Now, nobody dares to fire bullets at people in Srinagar, he said.
“Among those who fell to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, 85 percent were Muslims. Terror incidents used to be a routine affair in Kashmir. Were Hindus being killed in the terror acts? I have been a Home Minister, and I know the highest number of Muslims lost their lives in the incidents of terror,” Singh said.
Praising the people of J&K as skilful, hardworking and dedicated, he said if the BJP comes to power, J-K will emerge as the number one and modern region in the country. “I am saying it on the performance of the Central Government after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister in 2014. India has moved to fourth (fifth) spot from the 11th in terms of economy.”
“There is a requirement for a skilful and strong-hearted person at the post of PM and Chief Minister for smooth functioning of the Government. There used to be an atmosphere of terror in Kashmir before 2019…today no one can dare to open fire from a pistol or revolver. This is the result of a strong leader being in power,” he said.
Singh said when he was the Home Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was the Chief Minister in J-K, his only concern was to bring the security situation to normal.
“I led a Parliamentary delegation to meet the Hurriyat Conference as we were ready for talks with them for restoration of peace. Sharad Yadav along with others went to meet the Hurriyat leaders but they shut their doors. People were demanding withdrawal of cases against innocent and minor children and I talked to Mehbooba and asked her to release them. We did everything but the way they (Hurriyat leaders) should have responded, they did not,” he said.
Targeting PDP and NC, the Defence Minister said they used to say that the revoking of Article 370 will engulf the region into a devastating fire. “We did it boldly and nothing happened”.
“After independence, the rights of women and weaker sections including Pakistani refugees, safai karamcharis were denied. But we ensured justice for them and they are going to vote in this election. We also provided political reservation to Scheduled Tribes,” he said.
Singh said a G20 event happened in Srinagar last year, projecting Kashmir as a “tourism hotspot instead of terrorism hotspot” as Government focused on road and rail connectivity and infrastructure building.
“The Government under the leadership of Modi has decided to call the border villages as first villages of the country rather than last villages and we will ensure their fast development,” he said, adding the border-fencing project will be completed to block infiltration.
He also questioned NC vice president and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah over his reported statement on the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and asked: “What should have been done to him? If not hanged, he should have been garlanded?”
Highlighting various guarantees included in BJP manifesto, he said the party wants safe return and rehabilitation of Kashmir migrant Pandits.
He said more than 40,000 people have lost their lives in terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir over the past three decades.
Accusing the NC and PDP of having sympathy for terrorists, Singh said the BJP finished terrorism in J-K to a large extent. “We will not tolerate terror activities at any cost. Is taking the lives of Hindus, Muslims or Christian by terrorists is acceptable to you?” he asked
Reiterating the BJP’s assertion that Article 370 has become a history, and resolve that it can never be restored, the Defence Minister said, “We have finished this Constitutional provision to end your misery and bring prosperity to J&K. What Article 370 gave to you? The Congress, NC and the PDP used it to mislead you.
“Who has created the atmosphere of terror in J&K – the BJP or those who ruled J&K for a long time?”
Singh said the change is visible in J-K with terror on decline, and roads, highways and Government schemes reaching every nook and corner of the Union Territory.
“We know there are many who try to create hatred against us. But you know me and you have seen the working of the Prime Minister. We never do politics on the basis of caste, creed and religion. We do politics based on justice and humanity,” the Defence Minister said, urging people to vote for the party candidate and ensure his victory.
He said schemes brought by the Modi Government benefit every section of society as “we treat everyone, whether a Hindu, Muslim or Christian, living on the soil of India as our family”.
But the Congress, NC and PDP have never done justice with J-K and always pursue discriminatory policies, he said.
“I want to tell them that politics should not be done to form Governments by misleading people but our effort should be in the direction of building society and nation,” he said, adding PM Modi wants to make India a developed nation and J-K a developed region.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that while for over half a century, Congress practised religious discrimination, BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided equitable share to all regardless of whether he was a Hindu or Muslim or for that matter hailing from any religion or any other caste. This, he said, is evident from the manner and style in which Modi’s various welfare schemes have been rolled out in the last 10 years.
Addressing the rallies, Dr Jitendra Singh said, successive Congress Governments in Jammu & Kashmir developed a culture of providing State welfare benefits based on religious and communal bias. This, he said, might have given them benefit of votes but in the long run, it created a divide between the different communities and also eroded the cultural and democratic ethos of society.
On the other hand, Dr Jitendra Singh said, you can take example of any welfare scheme of the BJP Government and you will realise that it has reached every individual or family in need regardless of their caste or religious affiliation.
Addressing the audience comprising a large number of Muslims, he asked, contrary to what the Congress leaders claim, has there been one instance, where a deserving Muslim household did not get a Pucca house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna and said if there is a single example of that, they should raise their hand. In response, the large number of Muslims sitting in the audience raised their hands to endorse what Dr Jitendra Singh was saying and indicated that they had all received a Pucca house under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, BJP under Modi has sought to introduce a new political culture in this country wherein the distribution of the State benefits will be determined with an objective criteria of who needs it the most. This, he said, is also going to change the mindset not only of the politicians but also of the common citizens who have been poisoned by Congress Party’s communal politics over the years.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, Banihal is the most peripheral region of Jammu division and hardly any national leader visited this place but in the last 11 years, it has received special attention as a result of which today we have a large network of roads, National Highways and tunnels built in this small town. Not only this, he said, Banihal will have the distinction of being an important rail link between Kashmir valley and the rest of India which also was possible only under the Modi Government.
Dr Jitendra Singh reminded that for over the last six decades, NC and Congress MLAs elected from Banihal invariably found place in the State Cabinet but they never attended this region because they were always driven by their approach of appeasement. He, therefore, appealed to the voters to rise above the religious lines and collectively vote for BJP to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that this will go a long way in ensuring a bright and secure future for their children, who are going to be the proud citizens of Viksit Bharat.
DM showers praises on Dr Jitendra
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today showered all praises on Union Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Dr Jitendra Singh saying when he speaks in the Parliament there is pin drop silence and people of this Parliamentary constituency (Udhampur-Doda-Kathua) are fortunate to have such an MP.
Addressing election rallies in Ramban and Banihal Assembly constituencies, falling under Dr Jitendra Singh’s Lok Sabha seat, Rajnath said he was not praising Dr Singh because he is sitting here but “I have been saying this in his absence also”.
“He (Dr Jitendra Singh) is such a capable politician that when he speaks in the Parliament there is pin drop silence. You are fortunate to have such an MP,” the Defence Minister said.
He said Dr Jitendra Singh is always cool and calm and he has never seen him getting angry.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
