Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today attacked Pakistan and separatists for using stone pelting by youth in Kashmir valley as a new strategy against India. Addressing a rally near Jammu, Jaitley said these stone pelters were aggressors and asserted that there would be no compromise with the national security.
Acknowledging that situation in Kashmir was “serious”, senior union minister Arun Jaitley said those indulging in stone-pelting in Kashmir are “not satyagrahis but aggressors” who target police and security forces but some people with limited vision cannot see this.
Addressing a rally on the outskirts of Jammu city, he also slammed Pakistan for the current unrest, saying it was “attacking the integrity of India” in a “new way” after failing to snatch the state by waging wars and fuelling trouble ever since partition in 1947.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has three priorities for Jammu and Kashmir, said Jaitley, Minister of Finance.
Outlining these priorities, he said, “There will be no compromise on the security and integrity of the country and no compromise with the people who indulge in violence.
“Secondly, as Jammu and Kashmir has faced violence and wars, it needs development which was denied for past 60 years by National Conference and Congress governments. Thirdly, Jammu, being the support base of BJP, needs added attention.”
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley blased Pakistan for using orchestrated stone pelting to destabilise Kashmir valley.
His outlining of the priorities assumes signficance as the opposition has been accusing the Modi government of having no policy with regard to dealing with the unrest. The opposition parties have been pressing for a political solution and dialogue to address the unrest.
Talking in the context of ongoing 44-day unrest in Kashmir, Jaitley said, “Now this time, a serious situation has emerged in which Pakistan, separatists and religious forces have joined hands and now with a new way, they are attacking the integrity of India.”
Describing it as a “major challenge”, he said, “today in such a challenge, the need of the country is that we don’t compromise with the integrity and security of the nation.”
He asked people of Jammu and Kashmir to stand with the country in the “struggle against the separatists” so that “this new phase of Pakistani strategy of war is defeated this time as well”.
