Home Minister Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha on Monday that innocent village boys in the Kashmir Valley were lured with money to throw stones, while the children of those who incited them studied and worked in foreign countries.
He asked the people in the Valley not to be afraid and not be swayed by negative publicity. ”People from the Valley, please come forward and work with the Indian government. Protecting you and your property is our responsibility,” he said.
He said he would ensure peace in the Kashmir Valley, and was waiting for the day when Kashmiri Pandits and Sufis prayed together at the Kheer Bhawani temple.
He said the Lok Sabha and the Assembly election in J&K could not be held together because it was not possible to give security to all candidates. Polls would not be delayed even for a day when the Election Commission decided to hold it.
“The Kashmir issue has been lingering since 1947,” he said responding to the discussion on statutory resolution to extend President’s Rule in the State for another six months. “We need new vision and new thinking to solve it. [Kashmir] Valley is ours, we want it to progress like other parts of the country. But as far as terrorists and separatists are concerned, there is no place for them in this country. We will use tough measures against them.”
The President’s rule ordinance expires on July 2. The statutory resolution on extending it was passed by the Lok Sabha last week. On Monday, the Rajya Sabha too passed the resolution.
“Cross LoC trade was being used to fund guns and ammunition. So many schools, libraries colleges were burnt ... two generations of Kashmiri children remained uneducated,” he said. “But what are children of those leaders, on whose directions these schools were burnt, doing? One of their sons studied in Saudi Arabia and is working there at a package of ₹30 lakh per month. Some studied in London... Asiya Andrabi’s sons are studying in London and Malaysia… I want to tell the Kashmiri youth, don’t be misled by these people.”
TV debates
Participating in the debate, Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress demanded that shrill television debates involving Kashmir should be stopped. “They call two people from Pakistan and two from here to discuss Kashmir, which later takes a communal colour and becomes a Hindu-Muslim issue. Government should stop TV channels from airing such debates as it affects tourism, locals incur losses...,” he said.
Responding to this, Mr. Shah said, “I cannot stop TV channels, we don’t want to bring Emergency. There will be peace despite the TV debates, we will embrace the Valley.”
