“Ready to embrace Pak if it stops promoting terrorism on Indian soil”
STATE TIMES NEWS
POONCH: Defence minister Rajnath Singh lauded the people of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday for overwhelmingly taking part in the first phase of polling in the Assembly election on September 18 and said Pakistan is feeling “pain in its belly” watching democracy flourishing in the Union Territory after the abrogation of Article 370.
The senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader accused the National Conference (NC), Congress and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of misleading people by talking about the restoration of Article 370 of the Constitution in their manifestoes and said these parties should stop working as “proxies of Pakistan”.
“The first phase of the Assembly election registered more than 61 per cent polling, the highest in 30 years and surpassing the record-breaking 58 per cent polling in the Lok Sabha election. The message has gone to the world that Article 370 was abrogated for the betterment of India. “People have raised the flag of democracy so high that Pakistan is feeling pain in its belly. We do not want enmity with Pakistan as we want good relations with all our neighbours. Pakistan keeps doing unholy things against India to divert the attention of its people from its internal problems,” Singh said, addressing a poll rally in support of BJP candidate Choudhary Abdul Gani here.
Referring to a reported statement of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif that his country and the NC-Congress alliance are on the same page over restoration of Article 370, Singh wondered who has given the authority to the neighbouring country to interfere in Jammu and Kashmir’s internal matters.
“I want to ask my friends in the NC, Congress and PDP, are you fighting elections as proxies of Pakistan?” he asked.
The defence minister said people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are distressed and want to join India.
“They are witnessing the change in Jammu and Kashmir and India’s progress under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. They are considering joining India for their prosperity and they no longer want to live with them (Pakistan),” he said, adding that India has never differentiated among people on the basis of religion and considered the PoK residents as “our own”.
Referring to a statement of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee — “hum dost badal sakte hai, humsaaye nahi (we can change friends but not neighbours)” — Singh said if Pakistan treads the right path, India is willing to have good relations with all its neighbours. “We should not forget the words of Vajpayee,” he added.
“The NC, Congress and PDP are making a lot of noise over Article 370 and have promised to restore it. How will you restore it as only a government at the Centre has the power to do so?” Singh asked.
He said real politics is to tell the truth to people by looking in their eyes, instead of misleading them for securing their votes. “The BJP is clear in its stand that we will not allow restoration of Article 370 come what may,” the defence minister asserted.
Holding Article 370 responsible for the death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir over the last 35 years, Singh said 80 per cent of those who lost their lives due to terrorism were Muslims.
“If the NC-Congress alliance comes to power, people will start losing their lives (to terrorism). Article 370 was the reason why Jammu and Kashmir lagged behind,” he said.
The veteran leader said if the BJP comes to power here, it will ensure that Jammu and Kashmir is the most developed region in the country in 10 years.
He said the revocation of Article 370 led to the implementation of the Constitution in letter and spirit in Jammu and Kashmir. “That time has gone when there was no tricolour at Lal Chowk, the nerve centre of Srinagar. Does anyone have the power now to stop someone from hoisting the national flag there?” he asked the gathering.
Singh also accused the NC, Congress and PDP of dividing people on the basis of religion and said “everyone born on Indian soil, belonging to any faith, is an Indian citizen”.
He said the BJP is the only political party that can restore the pride of Jammu and Kashmir.
“After independence, Jammu and Kashmir, which was known as paradise on earth, got lost in the whirlwind of the past. We have to pull it out from this whirlwind and take it forward, unlike the past rulers who kept it backward and indulged in divisive politics,” he said.
“You have witnessed the drop in terror activities. Jammu and Kashmir is now known as the country’s tourism capital than being infamous for terrorism,” Singh said, lauding the culture of Kashmir where people from all religions used to celebrate their festivals together.
He accused local politicians of destroying the region and said, “Modi’s politics will not allow them to ruin Jammu and Kashmir anymore. Modi has a special place for Jammu and Kashmir in his heart.”
Addressing poll rallies at Kotranka and Sunderbani in support of BJP candidates Choudhary Zulfikar Ali (fielded from the Budhal Assembly segment) and Thakur Randhir Singh (nominated from the Kalakote-Sunderbani seat), the Defence Minister said India is ready to embrace Pakistan and start a process of dialogue with it provided the neighbouring country gives a guarantee that it will stop promoting terrorism on Indian soil.
Singh accused the Congress, National Conference (NC) and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of working as “proxies of Pakistan” and said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will not allow anyone to run the “impure agenda” of Islamabad in Jammu and Kashmir.
“They (NC and PDP) are advocating dialogue with Pakistan, a country that is aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorism and dialogue cannot go on together but if Pakistan gives a guarantee that it will stop promoting terrorism on Indian soil, we are ready to embrace it and start talks,” he said.
The defence minister said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has consumed thousands of lives in Jammu and Kashmir, with 80 per cent of its victims being Muslims.
He said Pakistan has the habit of moving around with a begging bowl and is presently seeking an assistance of USD 7 billion, which is less than the package announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Jammu and Kashmir, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The one doing business in snakes (terrorism) ends up harming himself,” he said.
“Be assured that terrorism will be wiped out from Jammu and Kashmir,” the defence minister said, adding that the Union Territory has suffered a lot due to terror activities for three decades and the BJP is ready to make a “new Jammu and Kashmir”, without allowing anyone to push it backwards.
Lashing out at the Congress, NC and PDP, Singh said any Indian is welcome to do politics based on the issues facing the country, instead of working as a “proxy of Pakistan”.
“These are the people who raised the same questions as those of Pakistan on the Pulwama terror attack and demanded proof of surgical strikes, airstrikes and (the) Galwan (clash in Ladakh). All these things clearly show that the NC, Congress and PDP are trying to run a Pakistani agenda, but I want to tell the people here as well those across the border that the impure Pakistani agenda will not be allowed to run in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s recent visit to the United States, the defence minister accused the Congress leader of defaming India on foreign soil. “The Congress should be given a befitting reply in this election,” he added.
After the provisions of Article 370 were abrogated in August 2019, the government got an opportunity to rebuild Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said, adding, “No power can restore it again.”
He questioned the poll manifestoes of the NC, Congress and PDP that talk about restoration of statehood in Jammu and Kashmir and said, “The prime minister has already promised that statehood will be restored. These parties are misleading people on the issue.”
Singh accused the opposition of dividing the country in the name of religion and said, “We cannot achieve progress without unity among Hindus and Muslims. We can only make a country’s head high when we move together.”
The veteran leader asserted that no power can stop the BJP from forming its government in Jammu and Kashmir after the conclusion of the ongoing Assembly polls in the Union Territory.
“Everyone in Jammu and Kashmir accepts that the Modi government has ensured the region’s development, something that no other government has done before. The situation has improved considerably, which is evident from the fact that polls are being held in a free and fair manner and people have reposed their faith in democracy by exercising their franchise in large numbers,” he said.
Singh said Pakistani refugees and members of the Valmiki Samaj are going to vote in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly polls for the first time in seven decades, which was made possible by the BJP-led government by ensuring justice with the deprived population, including the Scheduled Tribes (STs) who were provided reservation in the Assembly.
He said a network of roads is being laid by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) to improve connectivity and there has not been a single incident of stone-pelting since 2022.
“Those who ruled earlier used Jammu and Kashmir as an ATM to take away money, but we provided 40,000 jobs to youngsters (in government departments) and created 5.3 lakh jobs through self-employment,” the BJP leader said.