Mumbai, April 24 (IANS) Shiv Sena(UBT) in a scathing editorial in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ has claimed that terrorism in J&K is not over yet and the Kashmir policy has failed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure. The party said this will happen when an “atmosphere of religious hatred is created in the country”.
“This issue will not be resolved by threatening Pakistan. Such threats make PM Modi’s devotees feel good. Pakistan’s back was left to be broken. In Pahalgam, terrorists attacked the back of the fake saviours of Hindus. It further alleged that PM Modi and other leaders are giving empty threats and warnings to Pakistan to enter their homes. In reality, terrorists are entering India by crossing the border and killing innocent Hindus. Kashmir is in turmoil under the BJP rule. What else will happen when an atmosphere of religious hatred is created in the entire country?”
“Most of those killed are Hindus. Some are Muslims. After Pulwama, the Pahalgam attack was a complete failure of the intelligence agencies. Where has the National Security Advisor, who poses as James Bond, gone? Prime Minister Modi repeatedly says that this country is in safe hands. PM Modi lies. When PM Modi announced demonetization, he said, ‘Now the backs of terrorists will be broken.’ When Amit Shah abrogated Article 370 and made Jammu and Kashmir a Union Territory, he announced, ‘Now terrorism in the valley is over’. But here, rivers of blood are flowing every day and his spit of lies is mixing with it,” said the editorial while upping the criticism against the BJP-led government at the Centre.
“Terrorism in the Kashmir Valley is not over. Since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, 197 security personnel have been killed in Kashmir. 135 civilians have been killed. 700 suspected militants have been killed. This is not a sign that the violence in the Valley has ended. Hindus are being ‘targeted’, and the promises made by Modi for the Kashmiri Pandits in the 2014 elections have not yet been fulfilled. Not only have Kashmiri Pandits not returned home, but the remaining Hindus are also fleeing. The BJP government, which calls itself the saviour of Hindus, should be ashamed of this,” the editorial said.
“For the past decade, the country has been spreading the poison of Hindu-Muslim hatred and creating an atmosphere of constant riots. Bulldozers were driven over the houses of poor Muslims, and they celebrated wildly during this period. The peace and harmony of the country have been destroyed. There is only one answer to every problem in the country: the Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan. Then why did this Gujarat formula not work in Jammu and Kashmir? Union Home Minister Amit Shah uses the Home Ministry, police, and intelligence agencies for politics, to harass the opposition, for the game of toppling and forming governments, and for the uprooting of MLAs and MPs. In such a situation, how will national security be considered? How will Hindus be protected? By mourning the death of Hindus, Muslims and asking for votes by bombing in the name of Pakistan is their business for generations. The same thing happened in Pulwama. The same fate will befall the Pahalgam attack. When will there be a Hindu space? When will the eyes of blind devotion be opened?” asks Thackeray’s Shiv Sena in the editorial.
“Hindus have been massacred once again in Kashmir. When this terrorist attack took place, Prime Minister Modi was on a tour of Saudi Arabia. The US Vice President was on a tour of India. While the picture of India being settled under Modi was being painted, the worst terrorist attack in the last 25 years took place in Kashmir. The terrorists dispersed by shooting the bodies of 26 tourists. While leaving, they said goodbye to the surviving tourists, ‘Tell Modi what happened here!’,” says the editorial.
Targeting Home Minister Amit Shah, the editorial said he reached Kashmir after the bloodshed. “What will Shah do now? Shah should resign, taking responsibility for the killing of Hindus in Kashmir. Mamata Banerjee’s resignation is being demanded, holding her responsible for the violence in West Bengal, but the shameless Central government is not ready to take responsibility for the killing of Hindus.”
“During Modi’s tenure, the Uri terrorist attack took place. Pulwama, which killed 40 soldiers, took place. The Pulwama massacre was a harakiri of the security system and the government’s carelessness. Now yesterday’s Pahalgam attack is also a carelessness. Tourists in Kashmir are always the target of terrorists. 25 lakh tourists reached Kashmir this time. Out of them, 22 lakh tourists came to Pahalgam. There were over 2,000 tourists at the place where the attack took place, and there was not a single soldier or policeman for their security. That is why the terrorists chose this place to attack. The Baisran part of Pahalgam is surrounded by forests, is high up. There are no police and soldiers deployed here, the roads are narrow. The terrorists lay in wait here and attacked. Where over 2,000 tourists have gathered, which is the most sensitive part of Kashmir, some terrorists enter there in Army uniform, ask each one by name and shoot 26 people. By firing indiscriminately, the terrorists then left.”
“On whose trust did the government leave so many tourists in sensitive areas?” Thackeray-led Shiv Sena asked.
The editorial reminds the BJP that in its 2019 election manifesto, it had announced the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir and promised to provide security to Hindus in Kashmir.
“The Modi government and the BJP celebrated the political celebration of the removal of Article 370, but left the Hindus in the valley in a helpless state. Modi-Shah removed the full statehood of Kashmir. That is, they took security, law and order into their own hands by making this part a Central government. The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir remained a nominal figure. Amit Shah is ruling Kashmir through the Governor. The outcry and screams in Pahalgam showed what this state is like. PM Modi brought politics into the Kashmir issue. He repeatedly blamed Congress and Nehru. PM Modi himself has been in the country for 10 years. The then Governor Satyapal Malik said that Pulwama happened due to the Modi government’s inexcusable carelessness, and Pahalgam happened due to Amit Shah’s sloppiness,” claimed the editorial.
The editorial reiterated that the Kashmir policy has failed during PM Modi’s tenure.
–IANS
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