Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday refused to condemn the recent "human shield" incident at Budgam in Jammu & Kashmir where a man was tied to an Army vehicle and taken around for over five hours, triggering an outrage in the Kashmir Valley.
While addressing a press conference in connection with the completion of three years of the National Democratic Alliance government, Mr. Singh said he concurred with Information and Broadcasting Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu's view that he (Mr.Naidu) was in "total agreement" with Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat's statement that the "dirty war" in Jammu and Kashmir has to be fought through innovative ways.
In an interview to PTI, Gen. Rawat had strongly defended the use of a Kashmiri as a 'human shield' by a young Army officer last month.
"He [Naidu] was not wrong. Sometimes it's not possible to answer these questions in a yes or no, there is a third option as well," Mr. Singh said while replying to a question by The Hindu on whether he condemned the ''human shield'' incident.
“There has been considerable progress in Jammu and Kashmir situation. India has the second largest Muslim population in the world but the Islamic State has not been able to gain foothold here,” the Home Minister stated. “Five operatives of Indian Mujahideen were sentenced to death last year and this has broken their backbone," he noted.
“Only two terrorist incidents - Gurdaspur and Pathankot - have been reported in the hinterland in last two years. As far as LWE [Left Wing Extremism] areas are concerned, we have given a new doctrine of SAMADHAN. We had launched a national policy for LWE in 2015,” he said.
There was a 45% decrease in infiltration from Pakistan after the surgical strikes. Pakistan should decide if dialogue with India can be initiated.
“ Kashmiri hands are not to throw stones . We are ready for talks with the youth of Kashmir but there are certain forces that are misguiding them at Pakistan's behest. We will take the Kashmiris into confidence before reaching a permanent solution,” he said.
