Jammu, Sept 08: India is ready to start dialogue with Pakistan if it stops terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday, even as he asked the residents of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) to come and join India as “we consider you our own unlike Pakistan which treats you as foreigners”.
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 said “What should have been done to him? If not hanged, he should have been garlanded?”
Singh on Sunday addressed two election rallies in Ramban and Banihal assembly segment of Ramban district in support of BJP candidates Mohd Saleem Bhat in Banihal and Rakesh Singh Thakur in Ramban.
At Banihal, Singh said Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to J-K, was revoked to end the misery of the people and make the region prosperous.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.
In their election manifestos, the National Conference and the PDP have called for talks with Pakistan.
Without naming the parties, Singh said, “Some people want us to talk with Pakistan. I want to tell them… Pakistan should stop taking support of terrorism.”
“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,” he told the well-attended gathering here.
The defence minister said when Pakistan stops sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, India will start dialogue with them.
“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.
BJP candidate Mohd Saleem Bhat is pitted against former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and ex-minister Vikar Rasool Wani who is looking for a hat-trick of wins from the Banihal seat. National Conference’s Sjjad Shaheen and the PDP’s Imtiyaz Shan make it a multi-cornered contest.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed a massive rally in support of the party candidate in Sangaldan area on September 4.
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?”
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.
Earlier in the day, the defence minister addressed an election rally in nearby Ramban in support of party candidate Rakesh Singh Thakur and said more than 40,000 people have lost their lives in terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir over the past three decades.
The senior BJP leader came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
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.
“Support the BJP to form the next government in J-K so that we can facilitate massive development in the region. There will be so much development that the people in PoK on seeing this should say that we do not want to live with Pakistan and instead will go to India,” the defence minister said.
He said that recently an affidavit was filed by Pakistan’s additional solicitor general in the neighboring country stating that PoJK is a foreign land.
“I want to tell PoJK residents that Pakistan considers you foreigners, but the people in India do not consider you so. We consider you our own and so come and join us,” he said.
The defence minister’s visit as a BJP star campaigner comes a day after Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day tour during which he released the party’s manifesto, held a series of meetings with senior party leaders and also addressed a party workers’ rally.
In the Ramban constituency, the BJP’s Thakur is up against the NC’s Arjun Singh Raju and party’s rebel Suraj Singh Parihar. The seat was last won by the BJP’s Neelam Kumar Langeh who was denied a ticket by the party this time.
Singh said the assembly polls are taking place in J&K after 10 years and not only the people of the country but outside are also watching it. “I firmly believe that the BJP will form the next government with a clear majority.”
Praising the people of J&K as skillful, hardworking and dedicated, he said if the BJP comes to power, J-K will emerge as the number one and modern state 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 skillful 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 in J-K 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, the did not,” he said.
In 2016, a delegation comprising CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RJD’s Jay Prakash Narayan had gone to meet hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani at his Srinagar residence where he was under house arrest. However, Geelani snubbed the delegation and did not even open the doors.
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 had happened”.
“After independence, the rights of women and weaker sections including Pakistani refugees, sweepers were denied. But we ensured justice for them and they are going to vote in this elections. 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.
Highlighting various guarantees included in BJP manifesto, he said the party wants safe return and rehabilitation of Kashmir migrant pandits and turning J&K into a modern state of the country.
