Jammu: While sending a clear message to Pakistan to stop meddling in India’s affairs, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said that the Centre won’t tolerate waving of Pakistani flags at rallies by separatists in the Valley and those involved will be severely dealt with.
“If Pakistan wants its own welfare, then it must stop meddling in the affairs of other countries. It must stop all its nefarious activities aimed towards India,” he said while addressing a Jan Kalyan Parv here.
He gave a strong warning to those who want to harm India’s pride, integrity and sovereignty. He said India will give a befitting reply to such people. He said India always extended a hand of friendship towards its neighbouring countries including Pakistan, but Pakistan always resorted to backstabbing.”Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extended a hand of friendship towards Pakistan, but it stabbed in the back. Then when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the office a year ago, he invited all the heads of the state of the neighbouring countries to the swearing-in ceremony including the Pakistan Prime Minister,” he said.
He said that Pakistan must think over its actions as it has not been reciprocating the positive response of India towards it.
He said the government had given open orders to the armed forces especially the BSF to respond with all its might to any aggression from across the border.
“In October last year, Pakistan resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation. I saw on television that five of our citizens have died. I asked the Director General, BSF, to make sure that we are not the first to open fire. But if we are fired at from across the border, then Pakistani side must get a befitting reply with full might,” he said.
Singh said that it was the response from the Indian side that Pakistan was forced to go to the United Nations to request it to intervene and ask India to stop firing on them.
He said that India strongly believes that every country in the world must progress and India believes in living in communal harmony.
Referring to frequent waving of Pakistani flags at rallies by separatists in the Kashmir Valley, the Home Minister said these acts will not be tolerated and the state government has been asked to take strong action against people who raise pro-Pakistan slogans and wave Pakistani flag. “The Jammu and Kashmir government has been acting on this direction,” he said.
While sending warning to anti-national elements, the Home Minister at the same time said the Centre was ready to talk to everyone in Jammu and Kashmir. He appealed to the youth of Kashmir Valley not to get influenced by the separatists and avoid raising pro- Pakistan slogans and waving of Pakistani flags.
“We are ready to talk to everyone. Democracy is all about keeping open the communication lines, but we won’t tolerate anybody raising pro-Pak slogans and raising Pakistani flags on Indian territory. They will be severely dealt with,” he maintained.
The Home Minister said he feels pained to see the youth of the state, especially of Kashmir, being misguided. He said it was against the tenets of Islam and every other religion to praise another country while living in one.
“We are aware of the problems being faced by the people of the state, be it that of Kashmiri Pandit community, or that of the refugees from West Pakistan or Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, or that of the migrants from border areas,” he said, adding that Centre was considering these problems and was working to resolve them soon.
On the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit community, “We have kept provisions in the budget for the rehabilitation of the Kashmiri Pandit community to the Valley and the Chief Minister has said that he will identify the land for their rehabilitation and the proposal will begin soon.”
Singh said that the BJP-led NDA government would rise above party politics and cooperate with all states, including Jammu and Kashmir, on development.
“We have assured J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohd Sayeed that the Centre will extend full cooperation and support in development of all the three regions of the State,” Rajnath said, and promised there would be no discrimination on the basis of politics.
Attacking the previous Congress-led UPA government, Rajnath Singh said it suffered from policy paralysis and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi of taking the country from inactive to active mode.
Lauding Modi for taking the country from ‘inactive mode’ to ‘active mode’, he said, “In the past one year, the country has come to active mode from inactive mode. Unlike Congress, which was in inactive and silent mode for the past ten years, Narendra Modi government has been in active mode from the very first day it came to power.”
Claiming that there was not a single charge of corruption against the Modi government, Singh said the Congress-led UPA government was marred with large scale corruption.
“Congress government was victim of policy paralysis, our government brought transparency in decision making. While Congress-led UPA was marred with so many charges of corruption there was not a single one against our government since it came to power a year ago,” he said, adding that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was committed to provide clean governance to the people of the country.
He said, the defence preparedness, in the past one year, has received a boost with government clearing 40 new projects that were pending for approval during the previous regime for several years.
Singh said several measures taken by the Prime Minister have helped in improving India’s image on the global platform.
“It was because of the new government’s positive outlook that not only domestic but also foreign investors were feeling secure to invest in India.
“Till now the FDI has increased by USD 28 billion.
Investors from outside and within the country are feeling safe to invest in the country,” Singh said.
The Union Home Minister, who was highlighting achievements of one year of NDA rule, also said that the Modi government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative was not only aimed at bringing a manufacturing revolution in the country but also to help eradicate the problem of unemployment.
Elaborating further, he said India will welcome the FDI and also have an upper hand, as the government would control the 51 per cent share in it.
“Be it the company from America or Germany, whatever they manufacture in India would be ‘Made in India’ and the products would be of world class quality that people would be ready to purchase,” Singh said.
He said Modi has given a confidence of good governance and a new dimension to the country’s development.
“Since the Narendra Modi government took over, there has been 27 per cent increase in power generation in the country.
Apart from power generation, development of the highways too have taken place,” Singh said, adding while in 2013-14 only 3,621 km of highway was constructed but it has gone upto 7,980 km in 2014-15,” he said.
Besides, there has been an growth of 46 per cent under the ‘Prime Minister Gram Sarak Yojna’, he added.
The Home Minister said that the world has also accepted that after China, India was one of the fastest growing economies. “Even in G-20, India has emerged as the fastest growing economy.”
He said Narendra Modi government has taken major steps to bring back the black money stashed abroad and made the welfare of the poor and the farmers as its priority.
“Schemes like Jan Dhan Yojna, social security schemes have connected the poor and downtrodden with the banks. Even the IMF has also appreciated this, and Jan Dhan Yojna has found place in the Guinness Book of World Records,” he said.
He said while the inflation and price rise was ‘sky-high’ during the UPA government, the new government has not only brought it under control but has reduced the prices of essential commodities.
“Consumer price index which stood at 8.48 per cent during Congress rule has now been brought under 4.87 per cent,” he said.
Singh said that Indian government has offered the benefit of reduction of global petroleum prices to the consumers.
“Our opponents say that prices have reduced as the global petroleum prices have reduced, then the same must be applicable to other countries as well, while the prices in India have come down, it continues to be the same in other countries,” he said.
Singh said the country’s GDP was stagnant at 5 per cent during the Congress rule, but now has come to 7 per cent while the fiscal deficit has also come under control.