Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the common Kashmiris want to be active stakeholders in the peace process but had been made victims by certain vested interests.

In an article “Decoding PM’s Speech”, the Home Minister hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day address to the nation from Red Fort ramparts and said the country was marching ahead in its journey of transformation for a better future.

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Rajnath Singh referred to Modi’s remarks on Kashmir and said it was heartwarming to see the Prime Minister making his government’s stand clear.

“The Centre has been consistent in its belief that the common Kashmiri wants to be an active stakeholder in the peace process. They have been made victim by certain vested interests who do not want peace in the Valley. The Prime Minister, in his speech, appealed to those who take recourse to violence and exhorted them to abjure violence and adopt democratic means to voice their concerns and grievances,” Rajnath Singh said.

Modi in his speech said: “Na gaali se, na goli se, samasya suljegi gale lagane se (Neither bullets nor recrimination, the problem will be solved by embracing Kashmiris).”

The Prime Minister also said there had been a lot of mutual recrimination and blamed a “handful” of separatists for adopting new tactics to keep the problem festering.

Rajnath Singh appreciated Modi’s reference to surgical strikes and said: “Due to the decisive actions taken both by the government and by the armed forces, overall security scenario has considerably improved in the country since 2014.”

“Our armed forces have made innumerable sacrifices and gone the extra mile to protect our nation from its enemies. The best example of our forces taking extraordinary measures to protect the country was when the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control to conduct surgical strikes and successfully destroyed terror launch pads close to border.”

The Minister said ‘One Rank One Pension’ scheme for ex-servicemen, which was kept in cold storage for decades, was implemented by Modi as per his commitment fo giving the ex-servicemen their due.

Rajnath Singh praised Modi’s speech in which had talked of his idea of a new India — an India free of corruption, poverty, terrorism, casteism and communalism.

Rajnath Singh said the journey from ‘today’s India’ to ‘new India’ has already begun and the momentum for it was built in three years by Modi government, adding that now it has to be transformed into a mass movement.