Governor Satya Pal Malik on Monday stressed that the government will not allow terrorism to be revived in Jammu’s Kishtwar area where militants last week killed senior BJP leader Anil Parihar and his elder brother Ajeet Parihar.
Malik, who was talking to media persons after re-opening of the civil secretariat here in the winter capital of J-K, said that the terrorists involved in killing of the BJP leader and his brother have been identified and “you” will see the results in the next few days.
He confirmed that the killing was 100 per cent an act of terrorism and not because of any other reason.
The Jammu-Kashmir government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing and directed it to expedite the investigation and submit its report as early as possible.
The Governor reaffirmed that the mischievous elements will not be allowed to revive terrorism in Kishtwar and adjoining areas that were few years ago hotbed of militancy.
Malik said it was his effort to root out militancy from people’s minds and he has to some extent succeeded in this direction. There has not been fresh recruitment in terror cadres and incidents of stone pelting have considerably dropped, he said. This has created frustration among the patrons of terrorism sitting in Pakistan on whose directions “hand-grenades were being thrown here and there in the valley”.
Bosses of terrorism were also frustrated due to the peaceful conduct of municipal elections in the state during which not a single life was lost as compared to previous polls when 40 killings were reported.
“I am here to carry forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision and we are ready to talk to everyone who wants to restore peace in the state,” he said.
The Governor was confident that within the next six months an atmosphere congenial for initiating dialogue to find permanent solution to the problem would be created if peace is allowed to return in the state.
Malik said that “we have succeeded in conveying to the people of Kashmir that nothing would be achieved out of violence and dialogue was only the way forward”.
Answering questions about discrimination with the farmers residing close to the International Border with Pakistan, Malik said he was aware of the hardships being faced by the people living in the border areas.
“To evade arrest during the Emergency, we, including (Home Minister) Rajnath Singh, had gone into hiding in these areas in 1975,” he disclosed. Some remedial measures to meet aspirations of the border people have already been suggested to the Home Minister, he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the National Conference and PDP, which had a month ago participated in the Hill Development Council elections in Kargil, had chosen to boycott the municipal elections on the issue of the Article 35A that existed also during the Kargil elections.
Replying to a question about anti-Panchayat elections posters appearing in the Kishtwar and adjoining areas, Malik said such posters had appeared also during the municipal elections in which the people defied such diktats.
He said that the biometric presence of Rohingyas in J-K will be completed within the next two months as ordered by the Home Ministry.