On a day when the Army killed three unidentified militants, believed to have been involved in the recent attack on a BSF post in Karnath in the Tangdhar sector of North Kashmir, and the stone-pelters were back on the streets of Srinagar, the Centre asserted that the troublemakers in the Valley will be dealt sternly and there will be no compromises on the security of the nation.
The message was conveyed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during a public rally in Smailpur area of Jammu. This came on the eve of the much-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders of the Opposition parties from Jammu & Kashmir.
Addressing a public rally from the birthplace of Pt Prem Nath Dogra, Arun Jaitley said those indulging in stone pelting in Kashmir are not satyagrahis but aggressors. They have been attacking police and security forces yet there are some people with limited vision who cannot see this nefarious design, he said.
Holding Pakistan responsible for the current unrest in Kashmir Valley, Jaitley said it was “attacking the integrity of India” in a “new way” after failing to snatch the State by waging wars and fuelling trouble ever since partition in 1947.
Earlier, an encounter broke out on Sunday morning when the troops recorded suspicious movement in the forested area close to the line of Control (loC) in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
An Army spokesman said the three militants were involved in the attack on BSF Camp at Karnah on Friday afternoon. Three BSF personnel were severely injured in the attack and admitted to Srinagar Army hospital for advanced treatment.
The spokesman said no security personnel was hurt in the encounter. Three AK series rifles and warlike stores have been recovered from the possession of the slain militants, Defence sources said.
Jaitley said, for over 40 days now, Kashmir Valley is witnessing violent clashes. The situation is ‘serious’ this time as Pakistan, separatists and religious forces have joined hands and are attacking the integrity of India.
Seeking support of the people of Jammu & Kashmir, Jaitley asked them to stand with the country in the “struggle against the separatists” so that “this new phase of Pakistani strategy of war is defeated this time as well”.
Referring to Pakistan, Jaitley said that after facing defeats in two wars, the neighbouring country has realised that it was not possible to snatch Jammu & Kashmir from India by means of wars, so it started training and pushing in terrorists.
“But after those terrorists were getting eliminated, it adopted a new strategy.
When Amaranth agitation started in Jammu in 2008, they found a new way and stone pelting started.
“Children going to school were given stones in their bags instead of books to target police and security forces and the people with limited vision could only see the arrested stone-pelters but could not see thousands of injured police and CRPF personnel in the hospitals,” said the senior BJP leader.
Another Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh in his brief speech termed J&K a glaring example of the “failure” of Nehru’s political model.
“Yesterday, Union Finance Minister spoke about the failed Nehruvian model of economy and today I say that if you want to see the failed political model of Nehru, then Jammu & Kashmir is the best example,” Singh added. Several State BJP leaders, party MPs and deputy Chief Minister Prof Nirmal Singh also attended the rally.