New Delhi: BJP MP and Union minister Jitendra Singh speaking on the Centre’s decision to end the unilateral ceasefire decision in Jammu Kashmir province said the decision was a judicious one to ensure peaceful Amarnath Yatra which will soon commence.
When asked why exactly did the Government revoke its decision, The Union Minister replied: “The home ministry has taken cognisance of all the reports and then taken a judicious decision but let’s not forget that the immediate priority is to ensure that the upcoming Amarnath Yatra concludes peacefully which is the responsibility of the government, and of course, of society,” HT reported.
He added, “The Amarnath Yatra is not only a holy pilgrimage for Hindus, it is actually a symbol of India’s composite culture. We have a huge stake in ensuring the success of this Yatra and ensuring that no mischief happens.”
When asked whether it was Vajpayee’s government that showed more staying power during its reign by successfully extending it three times, the Minister replied: The context, the situation changed now and the Government has always been doing what is best in the interest of the nation.
He added that the government had already meant to send out a peaceful message that “if you are a pious Muslim, you are observing Roza, then as good human beings, we will cooperate with you. But if you yourself are not faithful to your religion, to the sanctity of the fast that you are observing, where it is mandatory that you don’t think evil, you don’t harm anybody. But if you don’t observe that discipline, if you are not faithful to yourself, nothing prevents me from protecting myself. I think those who have not stuck to the sanctity of Ramzan stand fully exposed.”
Speaking on the recent brutal killing of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and his rifleman Aurangzeb, he simply responded that the revoking decision was based on the inputs received by the Government and there was no such thing as hastening the ceasefire revoking decision following Shujaat’s murder, though he says he is in not in a position to respond to that particular question.
Adding that the one-month ceasefire might have been extended if it was not for the foreign country that is infiltrating militancy in the province. The killing of Journalists is not new in India he says.
“If you go back in history, you will see that the killing of journalists is not something new. It happened in the 90s, with the killing of Lassa Kaul of Doordarshan Kendra Srinagar, and it is going on.The moment you find a semblance of peace, Pakistan will generate something like that because it wants to keep the pot boiling”.
Further speaking on Huriyath, he says It is nothing but a bunch of people who are manipulating people with their politics and not engaging in peace talks is to keep continuing the politics in the province.
He said that the killing of journalist and editor of ‘Rising Kashmir’, Shujaat murder is sponsored by Pakistani agencies.
And people speaking now are thinking of themselves as self-righteous intellectuals who are simply doing more harm than good in the province.
Shujaat’s killing is not new in the province since any man who is working to sort out a middle path has to walk this path. Any activist in Kashmir, whether from the journalist fraternity or political fraternity they will definitely have this tragedy.
He adds this strategy to work in order to put things in the right place and find a middle path apart from the only two options is what ends them in tragedy. Not only did Shujaat tried to do the same but also some of the political activists like Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq and Abdul Ghani Lone tried to the same. And this is the strategy that is being followed by Pakistan.