Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday sent a strong message to neighbouring Pakistan amid its attempts to “hobnob with like-minded” parties in Jammu and Kashmir and said that no power in the world could bring back Article 370. “I am saying loud and clear that we will not allow Pakistan to run its agenda in Jammu and Kashmir,” thundered PM Modi while addressing his second poll rally in Jammu’s Katra.
PM Modi also launched a blistering attack on the Congress-National Conference (NC) alliance in the Union Territory and slammed it for sharing a “common agenda” with the Pakistani establishment. Taking note of Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif’s statement on Article 370, PM Modi said that the neighbouring country’s admiration of the Congress-NC manifesto “exposes their unholy alliance”.
He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would never allow such a thing to happen. “Pakistani Defence Minister said that the agenda of the Congress-NC alliance on Article 370 and 35A is the same as that of Pakistan. Congress and NC stand exposed today with the Pakistani minister openly expressing support for their poll promises on Article 370. This means that the NC-Congress alliance wants to impose Pakistan’s agenda in Kashmir,” PM Modi told the gathering in Katra.
“The BJP will never allow their agenda to succeed,” he said. PM Modi accused the Congress and NC of “working against India’s interests”, despite knowing that Pakistani infiltrators inflicted deep wounds on residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
“Pakistan’s wicked and nefarious plots killed our brothers and sisters but they want to align with them. For decades, they have been doing the same thing that their Pakistani bosses wanted them to do,” he said. He also said that for the BJP, the nation is first and foremost and will always go the whole hog in defending the country’s frontiers and punishing its enemies.
Earlier in the day, Home Minister Amit Shah also came down heavily on the NC-Congress alliance over its demand for the restoration of Article 370, thereby giving a handle to Pakistani elements to ‘influence’ the poll process.
“Pakistan minister’s statement again clarifies that Congress and Pakistan have the same intentions and agenda. For the last few years, Rahul Gandhi has been standing with every anti-India force, hurting the sentiments of the countrymen,” he said.
“Modi will not allow Pakistan’s agenda to come to reality. They want Article 370 restored and I tell them that no power on earth can get Article 370 back. For the BJP, nothing is dearer than the country,” the Prime Minister said.
He said this election will decide the future of Jammu and Kashmir. “This election will help take the BJP concept of ‘Naya Kashmir’ to new heights. NC, Congress and PDP have injured the sentiments of this region for many years. It is now for you to see that the political sun of these parties sets forever. BJP has removed years-old discrimination against you,” PM Modi said while speaking at the Katra rally.
“They have in the past accused the Dogra heritage. In the name of selling love, Congress sells hatred. They said the Dogra Maharajas were corrupt. They can’t see anything beyond the vote bank. They increased the chasm between Jammu and the Valley. The BJP declared Maharaja Hari Singh’s birthday as a holiday to honour his memory. You suffered discrimination at the hands of the NC-Congress governments. Today, your Chenab Railway Bridge is much higher than the Eiffel Tower of Paris. Today, pictures of this bridge are circulated worldwide,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi further said the Katra region symbolises “our faith and tradition because this is the abode of Mata Vaishno Devi”.
“We need a government that will foster this faith and tradition. The Congress cannot protect this faith. The Congress scion said abroad recently that the gods and goddesses of Hindu religion do not represent real God. Congress says ‘Devtas’ are not gods. In our country, our gods and goddesses are worshipped. Isn’t this an insult to our gods and goddesses?” PM Modi wondered.
He said the Congress is doing everything under a well-thought-out plan. “This is a Naxalite (Maoist) ideology brought from foreign countries. Naxalite thinking has overtaken the thought process of the Congress party.”
The Prime Minister said: “When I came here as a BJP worker, my friends here, some of whom I see at this gathering today, would give me ‘Kradi’ (Milk Bread), which was very famous. The BJP government got the ‘Kradi’ of Udhampur GI tag. We got GI tag for Basohli Pashmina also. We want all-round progress in this region. From here, our Para athlete, Rakesh and our shooter, Sheetal, got us Bronze at the Olympics. And this happened due to the blessings of Mata Vaishno Devi.”
PM Modi also spoke on the government’s focus on improving the railway infrastructure. “When we started semi high-speed Vande Bharat train services, one train chugged from Delhi to Katra town. Katra and Reasi railway stations were in shambles, we built new ones. No government in the past had the guts to build dams on rivers, and they would allow the untapped water to go to Pakistan. We built the Shahpur Kandi dam that has benefitted thousands of farmers whose lands had remained parched.”
The Prime Minister said that after Article 370 abrogation, terrorism and violence came down. “Jammu and Kashmir is moving on the path to progress. With your support, we will eliminate terrorism. BJP will bring out a white paper on who suffered due to terrorism,” PM Modi assured.
The Prime Minister further said that giving statehood is not a mere electoral slogan for the BJP since the government has stated on the floor of the Parliament that statehood would be restored to J&K. He also said that he knows about the demands of the Baridar Samaj.
“We started a scholarship for students of Baridar Samaj up to 12th class. We have spent Re 3.50 crore for marriages of daughters of this Samaj.” PM Modi concluded his speech by urging the voters to give a massive mandate to the BJP to form a strong government in Jammu and Kashmir.
–IANS
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