Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has accused Pakistan of aiding terrorists and avoiding cooperation in investigation.
Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here on Saturday, Mr. Singh said: “Terrorism here is not home-grown. It is externally aided. Pakistan blames non-state actors for it. I ask them whether the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) is a non-state actor. If anyone is fully helping terrorists, it is the ISI.”
Mr. Singh accused Pakistan of sheltering terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed and mafia don Dawood Ibrahim. He also raised doubts about whether Pakistan knew the whereabouts of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before he was killed by the U.S. forces.
“They have not effectively acted on our request to hand over culprits who planned the 26/11 attack on Mumbai [in 2008],” he said.
The Minister added that five more counter-insurgency and anti-terrorist schools would be opened by the end of the current fiscal.
On the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, he said more time was needed for a rethink on the Act. “Right now, there is no decision to withdraw it.”
Asked if the BJP would include in its manifesto its promise to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which gives autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Singh said: “There can’t be yes or no type answers on 370. A debate is needed among the people of Jammu and Kashmir to decide what is beneficial for them. This is being used by our opponents to scare the electorate [in the poll-bound State].”
On Maoists and insurgencies in north-eastern States, Mr. Singh reiterated that the government would only talk to groups that were willing to abjure violence. “For the first time we have an effective policy and action plan against Maoists. We are not focusing on killing Maoists, but in developing affected areas. We believe that development in Maoist-affected areas should be faster.”
‘RSS not external force’
To a query on interference in governance by the BJP’s ideological guide Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mr. Singh said: “The RSS is not an external force. The PM and I have been RSS volunteers from childhood and will remain so until our death. When we ourselves are members, then how will the RSS influence us?”