PM Modi condemns ‘harassment’ of Kashmiris, says we have to take them with us

india

Updated: Feb 23, 2019 22:46 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday criticised the alleged harassment of Kashmiri students living in other parts of the country following the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, and urged citizens to ensure the safety of Kashmiris.

“Our fight is for Kashmir, not against Kashmiris,” Modi said at a public rally in his first remarks on reports from several parts of the country that Kashmiris, especially students, were being targeted amid public anger over the terror attack in Pulwama.

On Friday, the Supreme Court directed all states and union territories to ensure that Kashmiris are safe. Students from Kashmir bore the brunt of the backlash that followed the Pulwama attack, with hundreds fleeing cities such as Dehradun and Ambala after being threatened by right-wing activists.

“There were incidents of harassment of Kashmiri youth in different parts of the country, which should not have happened. Youth of Kashmir are also fed up with the terrorism. They also want an end to terrorism and they are ready to support us. We have to take them with us,” Modi said.

“Our fight is against terrorism and enemies of humanity.”

Modi arrived in Jaipur in the afternoon and was received by Rajasthan governor Kalyan Singh at Sanganer airport. It was his first visit to Rajasthan after his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in the state to the Congress in assembly polls last year.

The Tonk-Sawai Madhopur parliamentary constituency, where he addressed the public rally, has eight assembly segments of which the BJP won only one in the assembly polls. In the 2013 assembly polls, BJP had won all eight seats.

Addressing a large gathering in Tonk, about 100 km from Jaipur, Modi said, “Terrorism will not be tolerated and if the onus of shutting down the terror factory falls on me, then I will do it.”

Modi has accused Pakistan of masterminding the Pulwama attack, for which the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group has claimed responsibility, and said he had given the Indian armed forces a free hand to avenge it at a time and place of their choosing.

Referring to the attack on pilgrims during the 2017 Amarnath Yatra, Modi said Kashmiri Muslims had lined up to donate their blood to save the lives of those injured in the incident. “Like our soldiers, Kashmiris too are felled by bullets of terrorists. Such incidents (of harassment of Kashmiris outside J&K) give strength to those who support anti-nationals. No citizen of my country will strengthen the hands of anti-nationals,” Modi said.

He said the people of Kashmir had been confronting terrorism for decades, but a “handful of people” in the state had sustained the phenomenon.

“Kashmiris also dream of an end to terrorism, but earlier governments failed (to convert the dream into reality. This government will fulfil the dream of Kashmiris,” he added.

Modi said when he called Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to congratulate him on his election victory last year, Khan had told him: “I am a Pathan. I speak the truth and I act truthfully.”

“Today it is time to see whether Khan will come good on his words,” Modi said.