South Kashmir was peaceful from 2005-12 and situation become violent after that, some decisions should have been taken in the past to prevent the present situation, says the Union minister
Gen VK Singh addresses the media in Chandigarh on 18 February. (SNS Photo)
Amid various reports speculating reasons behind the 14 February Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh has urged people to not to indulge in blame game without having knowledge all facts.
Addressing the media in Chandigarh on Monday, Singh said it would be too early to comment on the facts in Pulwama attack case in which over 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
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“The investigating agencies are probing the attack and all ground realities should be taken into consideration before commenting on the issue. We should support the martyrs’ families in this hour of grief,” he said.
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Singh said the Kashmir issue was a complex one and India was at present fighting a proxy war in the Valley which had several aspects, both internal and external.
“Success and failure of policy adopted in the valley could not be judged based on one incident. The South Kashmir area was quite peaceful from 2005-12 and the situation in districts surrounding Pulwama become violent after 2012. What were the reasons for such turmoil?” Singh asked, asserting that some decisions should have been taken in the past to prevent the present situation.
He said it was a policy failure or someone in the Valley deliberately promoted terrorism after 2012.
Replying to a query, he said the Indian government’s action or strategy could be judged from two statements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which he had said Pakistan would be isolated on the issue of terror. “And we won’t spare anyone who would mess with our country (Jo chhedega usse chhodenge nahi).”
He said the Modi government had been able to isolate Pakistan at international level and it was the reason that 40 countries had come in support of India and strongly criticised the terror attack.
On the question of retaliatory action against Pakistan, Singh said the “so called” revenge should be well thought out calmly, carefully planned and should be aimed at achieving desired results.
“The action should not be planned or carried out in haste. Even the most wanted terrorist Osama Bin Laden was killed after he was tracked for several years by intelligence agencies,” he said while replying to a query on targeting Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar’s hideout in Pakistan.
“For the time being, we should wait and watch, and support the Indian Army,” he added.
Aiming to establish mass contact ahead of Lok Sabha polls in the country, Union Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh sought suggestions from all to make a “new India”.
Addressing mediapersons as part of the BJP’s ‘Bharat Ke Man Ki Baat, Modi Ke Sath’ programme, Singh said the party wants to connect with common masses as to what they wanted to be the agenda of the government in the coming years.
“We want to seek suggestions from all which could be used for giving direction to the development of the country. All the suggestions which would be received under the programme, would be used for laying foundation of developed India,” he said.
VK Singh said the Narendra Modi government was taking the country in the right direction and the government schemes were benefitting all sections of the society.
“It is for the first time that the Central government schemes are designed in such way that there is no discrimination with any caste or religion. The government is aiming for poor people’s welfare instead of earlier slogans of poverty eradication (Garibi Hatao). Our schemes don’t follow the policy of appeasement of any community or religion,” he added.
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