Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday condemned the waving of Pakistani flags at Hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s rally and said he was confident that the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government would rise to the occasion and take steps to ensure such incidents do not recur.
“We (BJP and Central government) expect that he (Chief Minister) will live up to the expectations of people and the nation (by ensuring swift action in such incidents),” Mr. Singh, whose party BJP is part of the ruling coalition government in the state, said.
“It (waving of Pakistani flags) is condemnable. The government has reiterated time and again that there is no place for Pakistani flags being hoisted, but at the same time, I would hasten to add that the government in the state is capable of handling any situation like this and we expect that they would rise to the occasion,” he said.
Mr. Singh, who is on a three-day visit to Jammu, also added, “the state government should go by the promise of not allowing such activities.”
“State government and the Chief Minister have already taken appropriate action in similar incidents in the past,” he said.
The rally held on Friday in Tral in South Kashmir, which was the first in seven years by the separatist leader in the militancy-hit township, witnessed pro-Pakistan sloganeering and waving of Pakistani flags.
“Apart from law, there is psychological angle to it. Any voice of sedition is not encouraged anywhere in the any democratic set up in the world. It sets wrong precedents,” he said when asked whether Mr. Geelani should be arrested.
