No party can reinstate Article 370 in J&K: Anurag

“They would also talk about changing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act,” said the minister, adding that if that had happened, there would have been no end to litigation on our soldiers. “They would have either fought the terrorists/ stone pelters or defended themselves in the courts,” he remarked.

Talking about the present situation in Kashmir, Thakur said Article 370 and 35A were abrogated once the Narendra Modi government came to power, and now, even if some other party comes to power, this can’t be reversed.

Thakur also spoke about the challenges faced by traditional media in the age of social media, adding that newspapers bring credibility which may not be the case with social media and digital media always. “A few days ago, we discovered someone from Madhya Pradesh constantly beaming fake news through his digital media channel, and we will soon file a criminal case against such repeat offenders,” the minister said.

“We have taken strong action against such anti-national and fake news channels, whether they are being operated from within India or from outside the country,” he said, adding that the government will also continue to fight propaganda being run by several foreign newspapers.

On his vision as the sports minister, Thakur said the aim is to tell the world that India is ready to hold the Olympics. “India is handling the SCO presidency and G20 presidency this year, and also the hockey world cup, so a country like India — with good stadiums, sporting talent, airports, hotels and basic infrastructure — should now be looking at holding a full-fledged Olympics event,” he said.

“The effort of the ministry is also to take India’s regional games such as malakhamb and kaliyarapattu to the national stage, and finally, make them go international,” he said.

On sporting culture vis-a-vis sports administration in the country, Thakur said while the Prime Minister has made special efforts to boost the confidence of sportspeople, regardless of their win or loss in the game, the government has also increased the budget for sports tremendously to boost sporting infrastructure.

However, Thakur said when it comes to sports administration, “the person should have administrative skills and commitment, be it a sportsperson or a politician or a bureaucrat”.