Stone-pelting new form of Pak attack on India: Arun Jaitley

Accusing Pakistan and the separatists of fomenting violence in Kashmir, he said: “Once again, they have attacked India’s integrity in a new way… it’s a big challenge for the country… we cannot compromise with the security and integrity of the nation. The policy should be clear: in this fight against separatists, people of both Jammu and Kashmir will stand with the country to once again defeat this new phase of Pakistan-sponsored war.”

Without naming rival political parties, Jaitley said some people with “narrow vision” could only see the arrested stone-pelters, not the injured policemen and security personnel in hospitals.

“They are not satyagrahis, but assailants. It is certainly an attack when 2,000 people carrying 10,000 stones attack a police post of 8-10 people. But some people do not understand this.”

Justifying the need for events like the Tiranga Yatra and rallies by Union Ministers and senior BJP leaders 70 years after Independence, Jaitley referred to the Amnesty event in Bengaluru recently where azadi slogans were raised. He said the event was organised by “an organisation which gets liberal funding from abroad”.

Taking a swipe at the Congress-led government in the state, he said “yesterday, I read the statement of the Karnataka Home Minister in which he said that whatever has happened is not wrong”.

“After paying such a huge price for freedom, even today some political parties have a mindset connecting such things to vote-bank politics. That is why when there were slogans of ‘Bharat ke tukde tukde’ inside JNU, the BJP was the only political party within and outside Parliament to oppose such talk of secessionism. The Congress vice president even went to JNU in support of those who raised the slogans,” he said.

“This is not the right to freedom of expression… one can’t talk of disintegration of the country.” He said the Modi government had “three clear priorities” for Jammu and Kashmir. “First, there will be no compromise with national integrity and those indulging in violence; second, the Centre has to steer the violence-hit state out of its economic morass; and, third, all-round development in all three regions of the state,” he said.

Jaitley made similar remarks in Amritsar where he spoke at Jalianwala Bagh. “There is only one party which stands apart whenever someone raise anti-national slogans. Only the BJP and its friends take a strict stand against anti-national elements. You cannot allow people to raise slogans of azadi and demand disintegration of the country,” he said.

In Srinagar, state Opposition leaders, who met President Pranab Mukherjee Saturday, said they will be meeting the Prime Minister Monday morning.

“Yes, we are meeting him tomorrow,” Nasir Aslam Wani, provincial president (Kashmir) of National Conference, told The Indian Express. Wani is part of a delegation being led by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Although Wani said Opposition leaders are formalising the memorandum they will submit to the Prime Minister, sources said leaders will urge Modi to start a “dialogue with all stakeholders” in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Opposition delegation met President Mukherjee Saturday and sought his intervention in starting a dialogue. “We request your Excellency to impress upon the central government to initiate a credible and meaningful process of political dialogue without any further delay involving all stakeholders to address the political issue in the state. A continued delay to engage with the people of the state through a comprehensive and sustained political initiative will further deepen the sense of alienation in the Valley and cast a shadow of uncertainty on its future generation,” their memorandum stated.

— With Kamaldeep Singh Brar in Amritsar