AMRAVATI, Maharashtra, Oct 10:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said Indian soldiers have given a befitting reply to Pakistan over unprovoked firing by the neighbouring nation at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Hamare jawano ne Pakistan ka muh band kar diya hai (Indian soldiers have given a befitting reply to Pakistan),” Mr Modi said during an election rally here.
Mr Modi also announced a compensation for those affected in firing by Pakistan.
“Our Government will give a compensation to those people who had to leave their homes due to Pakistan firing,” he added. He also slammed the Congress and other opposition parties for doing ‘politics’ over the issue.
“Whenever there is tension on the border, it is not politicians’ speech but a soldier’s trigger that speaks,” the Prime Minister commented.
“Pakistan has got a befitting lesson. They will not dare to repeat it again. Our jawans have shut their mouth,” Modi said addressing an election rally in Dhamangaon in Maharashtra.
The Indo-Pak border conflict escalation marked by over three dozen ceasefire violations along the 198-km long IB in Jammu frontier since October 1 had been the worst since a 2003 ceasefire accord between India and Pakistan.
The firing incidents left eight persons dead and nearly 100 people, including 13 securitymen injured. Also, around 32,000 people have fled from their border homes leaving 113 hamlets deserted along the IB.
India yesterday sent out a strong warning to Pakistan, saying it will have to bear an “unaffordable” cost if it persists with its “adventurism” even as Prime Minister Modi asserted that aggression from across the border is being responded to with courage.
Modi has directed that people displaced from border areas of Jammu and Kashmir because of Pakistani shelling should be suitably compensated.
The details of compensation would be announced in “due course,” a PMO statement said here.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that people who have been displaced from the border villages of Jammu and Kashmir due to dastardly acts of shelling by Pakistan over the last few days, be suitably compensated,” the statement said.
Nearly 30,000 people have been displaced from border villages of Jammu and Kashmir due to one of the worst violations of the 2003 ceasefire by Pakistan since October 1.
Asking youngsters who have been radicalised to give up violence, Modi said they should shun guns and get a plough in its place to transform their lives.
“Terror has never benefited anybody. I appeal to all the youth who have gone on the path of violence to give up terrorism. This will do you no good. Get the guns off your shoulders and get a plough in its place. It will transform your lives,” he said while addressing a rally at Brahmapuri in Chandrapur, which is one of the Naxal-affected districts in Maharashtra.
According to recent statistics of the anti-Naxal Cell of Maharashtra Police, Maoist violence has claimed 451 victims in worst-hit Gadchiroli followed by 33 in Gondia and nine in Chandrapur, between February 1985 and July 2014.
Modi said it is imperative for the BJP to win the upcoming State polls to ensure that farmers can prosper the way they are doing in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
“You have to ensure that the BJP wins the elections with full majority. Only then can the farmers, who are water starved, be provided water. A farmer has the capability to produce gold if he gets enough water,” he said.
“Chhattisgarh, which was known to be a ‘bimaru’ (sick) State, has prospered tremendously under the BJP Government. We have ensured that farmers get a good price for their produce,” he said.
“Maharashtra is a neighbouring State. Why can’t our farmers progress similarly? Why can’t they get a good price for their produce? Give us a chance to work for you, we will transform the face of this State,” the Prime Minister said.
Later, addressing a rally at Dhamangaon in Amravati district, Modi referred to incidents of suicide by debt-ridden farmers of Vidarbha region growing cotton and oranges.
“Our farmers produce oranges that are famous the world over but, instead of succulent juice of the fruit, they have to drink poison,” he said.
Modi said the NDA Government has started a unique programme for cotton farmers called the “5 F Formula”.
“We have started a programme for farmers which we call the 5F Formula. Farmers who ‘farm’ cotton will be given assistance in their backyard to produce yarn.
“The yarn produced at the village will be used there itself to make fabric and the fabric thus produced will be used for making readymade garments. The government will then help the final product reach foreign markets,” he said.
Modi attacked Congress and NCP over corruption and asked the electorate to give BJP an absolute majority in the October 15 Assembly poll. (Agencies)
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