NEW DELHI, June 22:
Attacking Rahul Gandhi, the BJP today alleged that the Congress under him has “designed” its politics in sync with terrorists as it cited the reported comments of its leader Ghulam Nabi Azad that Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir killed more civilians than terrorists.
Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Azad’s comments have drawn support from terror group LeT and will make Pakistan happy.
He claimed a new Congress has emerged and under its president Rahul Gandhi and with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi, it wants to strengthen the forces working to break India.
Prasad also referred to the reported comments of Congress leader Saifuddin Soz that the people of Kashmir would prefer independence and asked Rahul Gandhi if he would take action against Azad and Soz.
The Congress’ commitment to the country has undergone a sea change since Rahul Gandhi took charge, he told a press conference.
He described Azad’s comments as “shameful and irresponsible” and the Congress’ pathological hatred of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP has become a “corner stone” of its politics in which national interest at times takes a back seat.
Prasad claimed that Pakistan will use Azad’s remarks to push its agenda of human rights violations against India.
Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi, he said nothing better could be expected of his colleagues when he himself extended support to those in the JNU who raised slogans against the country, questioned the Army’s surgical strike in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and made barbs like ‘khoon ki dalali’ aimed at the Government.
The killings of alleged IS terrorists in Kashmir only confirm that the security forces must be given a free hand, he said.
The BJP leader said Azad also called the visits of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat to the house of Aurangzeb, a soldier abducted and killed by terrorists in Kashmir, a drama and wondered if the Congress has fallen to such a low.
“Can there be something more shameful than this,” he asked.
With these statements of Congress leaders, LeT has now started blaming Indian security forces for the killing of Shujaat Bukhari, a Srinagar-based editor.
Congress’ hatred for Modi has led it to “compromise” the respect for the armed forces and their courage, he said.
He also cited figures to claim that more terrorists were killed under the NDA Government.
Security forces had killed 72 and 67 terrorists in 2012 and 2013 and the figure rose to 110 in 2014, when the BJP-led NDA came to power at the Centre, 108 in 2015, 150 in 2016 and 217 in 2017. Seventy-five of them were killed till May this year, he said.
Azad’s comments that the Army was killing more civilians than terrorists seek to “break the morale of the forces, bring them into disrepute and seriously impinge on the country’s security”.
He noted that Azad is a former Chief Minister of the State and is aware of the extent of terrorism there.
The BJP will raise the issue in Parliament when its Monsoon Session begins next month, he said.
Meanwhile, hitting out at Congress and human rights groups, Union Minister Arun Jaitley said today that dealing with terrorists who refuse to surrender is not “muscular policy” but a law and order issue which cannot wait for political solution.
Following the imposition of the Governor’s rule in Jammu & Kashmir, Congress leaders have expressed fears that it might result in return of the ‘muscular policy’ to deal with the Kashmir problem.
“At times we get caught in the idioms that we create. One such phrase is “muscular policy in Kashmir”. To deal with a killer is also a law and order issue. It can’t wait a political solution.
“A fidayeen is willing to die. He is also willing to kill. Should he be dealt with by offering Satyagraha before him? When he advances to kill, should the security forces that confront him, ask him to sit on a table and have dialogue with them?”, Jaitley raised the question in his Facebook post.
Jaitley’s comments come days after BJP pulled out of an alliance with PDP in J&K, leading to imposition of the Governor’s rule in the State. Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti too had said that “muscular security policy will not work in J&K” and reconciliation was the key to resolve the problems in the state.
Jaitley said the policy should be to protect the ordinary citizen of the Valley, get him freedom from the terror and provide him with a better quality of life and environment.
“It is paramount to protect India’s sovereignty and the right to life of its citizens,” he said.
Jaitley regretted that the front human rights organisation which have been taken over by the ultra-left have never spoken about the deprivation of the human rights of the innocent citizens who are victims of their violence.
“They have never a tear to shed in the indiscriminate killing of the security personnel,” he said.
Even though the Congress Party historically and ideologically would have been opposed to such human rights groups, they have earned a sympathy in Rahul Gandhi’s heart, Jaitley said, adding that Gandhi had no qualms about joining those who raised subversive slogans at JNU and Hyderabad.
“The political adventurists in parties like AAP, TMC and the like only look for a political opportunity in these groups. These human right organisations are an over-ground face of the underground. In the system that they believe in, there is no place for life, liberty, equality and free speech. In fact, there is no space for election or Parliamentary democracy,” Jaitley said.
The Minister said that one of the worst victims of Pakistan’s misconceived Kashmir policy has been the resident of Kashmir valley.
For the past three years, he said, the terrorists up their activities in the months of April, May and June so that the economic lifeline of the Valley suffers in the tourism season.
“They terrorise courts, they kill editors, they kill innocent citizens and they don’t allow any alternate religion to be practised. Who is threatening the human rights of the citizens of Kashmir? It is obvious that it is the terrorists and the Jehadis who have done it.
“The whole country bears a large cost by putting its security personnel in the region in order to protect the innocent citizens. Many security personnel have been martyred,” Jaitley said. (PTI)
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