Poonch: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday praised people for coming out in large numbers in the first phase of Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections on September 18 and said Pakistan is having a “stomach ache” seeing democracy flourishing in the Union Territory after the scrapping of most provisions of Article 370.
Singh, a 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 manifestos and said these parties should stop acting as “proxies of Pakistan”. He said, “More than 61 per cent voting took place in the first phase of the assembly elections, which is the highest in 30 years and also surpassed the record voting of 58 per cent in the Lok Sabha elections. The message has gone to the world that Article 370 was removed for the betterment of India.”
Addressing an election rally in support of BJP candidate Choudhary Abdul Ghani here, Singh said, “People have raised the flag of democracy so high that Pakistan is feeling pain in its stomach. We do not want enmity with Pakistan as we want good relations with all our neighbours. Pakistan keeps doing nefarious activities against India to divert the attention of its people from its domestic problems.”
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Citing the statement of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Singh said who has given the neighbouring country the right to interfere in the internal affairs of Jammu and Kashmir. Asif had said that his country and the NC-Congress alliance are of the same opinion on the restoration of Article 370. Singh said, “I want to ask my friends from NC, Congress and PDP, are you contesting elections as representatives of Pakistan?”
The Defence Minister also said that the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) are upset and want to join India. Singh said, “They (people of PoK) are seeing the changes in Jammu and Kashmir and the progress of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They are considering joining India for their prosperity and they do not want to stay with them (Pakistan) anymore.”
The Defence Minister said India has never discriminated between people on the basis of religion and has treated the residents of PoK as its own. Quoting former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement “We can change friends, not neighbours”, Singh said India is ready to have good relations with its neighbour if Pakistan follows the right path. “We should not forget Vajpayee’s words,” he said.
Singh said, “NC, Congress and PDP leaders are making a lot of noise about Article 370 and have promised to restore it. How will you restore it, because only the central government has the power to do so?” On August 5, 2019, the BJP-led central government revoked the provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and divided the then state into two union territories. Blaming Article 370 for the deaths and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 35 years, Singh said that 80 percent of those who lost their lives due to terrorism were Muslims.
He said, “If the NC-Congress alliance comes to power, people will start losing their lives (due to terrorism). It is because of Article 370 that Jammu and Kashmir lagged behind.” The senior leader said that if the BJP comes to power here, it will ensure that Jammu and Kashmir becomes the most developed region of the country in 10 years. He asked the gathering, “The time is gone when there was no tricolour at Lal Chowk, the main centre of Srinagar. Does anyone have the power now to stop anyone from hoisting the national flag there?”
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Singh accused the NC, Congress and PDP of dividing people on the basis of religion and said that “every person born on Indian soil, irrespective of his religion, is an Indian citizen.” He said that the BJP is the only political party that can restore the glory of Jammu and Kashmir. He said, “After independence, Jammu and Kashmir, which was called heaven on earth, got lost in the vortex of the past. We have to take it out of this vortex and take it forward. Earlier rulers kept it backward and indulged in divisive politics.”
Praising Kashmir’s culture, Singh said, “You have seen a decrease in terrorist activities. Jammu and Kashmir is now known as the tourism capital of the country, not for terrorism.” Accusing local political leaders of destroying the region, he said, “Modi’s politics will not allow them to destroy Jammu and Kashmir further. Jammu and Kashmir has a special place in Modi’s heart.” Singh said old political dynasties are only focused on grabbing power while the BJP is implementing Vajpayee’s words “Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat”.
