New Delhi: In the wake of Islamabad observing a “Black Day” to highlight the Kashmir issue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Thursday that Pakistan played a “key role” in fomenting the recent trouble in Kashmir, even as the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strongly-worded statement slamming Islamabad.
“If there is terrorism in India, then it is Pakistan sponsored,” the Home Minister said announcing in the Lok Sabha that an expert committee will be set up to recommend alternatives to pellet guns, a non-lethal weapon blamed for causing fatal injuries and blindness to protesters in Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed security forces to maintain “maximum restraint”, the Home Minister said, adding that Prime Minister Modi had remained in touch with him over the situation in Kashmir during his foreign tour and offered his suggestions.
“I felt he was in pain and worried. The first meeting he called upon his return to India was to discuss Kashmir,” the Home Minister said. The Home Minister called Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, whose killing sparked the recent protests, a “tech-savvy terrorist of new generation” who had exploited social media platforms to lure youths into picking up the gun.
The MEA said it strongly condemns the encouragement and support which such terrorists and their activities receive from Pakistan's state and demanded that Pakistan fulfil the obligation to vacate its illegal occupation of PoK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir)”.
The MEA also demanded that Pakistan “ensure full safety and security of the Indian High Commission, all its officials and their families in Pakistan”, given the “threats of marches and protests”, adding that “the events were led by UN-designated terrorists, who had in the past protested the elimination of dreaded terrorists including Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Akhtar Mansour in Pakistan”.
India also said Pakistan must stop deceiving the international community by holding “meaningless exercises such as the so-called elections in PoK”, adding that “Pakistan’s longing for the territory of J&K” had been exposed.
Pellet guns may be replaced
Amid strong criticism of the use of pellet guns for mob control in Kashmir, Home Minister Rajnath Singh today anno-unced that the government will look at other non-lethal alternatives as “we all feel sad” over the loss of lives and injuries in the valley.
Replying to a debate on the Kashmir unrest in Lok Sabha where many members expressed concern over the injuries caused by pellet guns, he said an expert committee will be set up to recommend alternatives to pellet guns and it will submit its report in two months.
Describing the youth of Kashmir as “patriots”, he said in “there is an attempt to misguide some” of them and a “mindset that stokes baseless anger against India”.
He also reached out to other political parties, saying the government alone cannot solve problems in Kashmir and all parties would have to work together.
“We all feel sad over the lives lost,” Singh said but added that “barbarism” can have no place in the society, citing incidents where some people had celebrated when some securitymen were killed.
