 "In J&K, PM slams Pak for waging proxy war on India")
Modi visited Kargil and Leh, addressing public rallies at both locations. In a first after taking over as PM, Modi slammed Pakistan for waging a proxy war on India. Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and beheading of Indian soldiers were one of Modi’s chief election planks in the Lok Sabha elections but he has been restrained in his criticism of the neighbouring country after assuming charge, even inviting Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony on May 26.
Modi had not mentioned Pakistan during his earlier visit to the state on July 4, when he inaugurated the Jammu-Katra railway line and addressed the troops in Srinagar. But on Tuesday, Modi was critical of Pakistan in Kargil, where he lauded the bravery shown by locals during the war the neighbours had fought in 1999, as also in Leh where he addressed troops. He said Islamabad had lost the strength to fight a conventional war and the Indian armed forces were suffering more casualties from terrorism than war.
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The comments come in the wake of repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan and an increasing number of militant attacks in Kashmir, the latest on Monday night on a Border Security Force convoy at Pampore in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, leaving eight personnel, including an officer, injured.
The PM inaugurated a 44-Mw hydroelectric project in Kargil as also a Leh-Kargil-Srinagar transmission system expected to resolve power woes of Ladakh.
He announced a sum of Rs 8,000 crore towards road construction in the state and promised to waive Rs 60 crore the state government owed to the Food Corporation of India. The PM repeated his government’s commitment to rehabilitate displaced Kashmiri pandits as also those displaced by terrorism.
Modi also said in Kargil that rampant corruption has made people angry across India. Modi’s was a general comment but the Omar Abdullah government has faced its share of corruption allegations in its six-year rule in the state. “I assure that we will fight corruption and work with all those against graft. Corruption has ruined the country,” Modi said. The PM said his mantra was "Na khaunga, na khane dunga (Neither do I take bribe nor do I allow anyone to take bribe)."
The PM’s second visit to the state in as many months came as a boost to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rank and file in the state. The BJP has set for itself ‘Mission 44+’, that is winning 44 seats in the state’s 87-member legislature, in the Assembly elections slated for later this year.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won unprecedented three of the state’s six seats and 32 per cent vote share. Of the 87-seats, Jammu elects 37, Ladakh four and Kashmir 46. The BJP hopes to do well in Jammu as well as Ladakh regions in the assembly polls, and believes it would be in a position to form the government if not on its own than in alliance.
At the BJP National Council meeting that concluded on Saturday, party president Amit Shah in his address had said that Assembly elections were due in J&K, Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra “and we have to accept the challenge of forming our government in all these states, yes I repeat, in all these states”.
Modi said he would ask the Union Cabinet to clear Rs 8,000 crore needed for completing work on four important roads in the state. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had last month met Road and Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and pressed for early completion of Batote-Kishtwar road, Kargil-Zanskar, Domail-Katra road besides fast-tracking the four-laning of Srinagar-Jammu National Highway and construction of some tunnels.
Modi spoke about the Kargil infiltration, about which the first information was given by a shepherd Tashi Namgyal. Modi said the people of Kargil had supported the Indian armed forces during the war and he still recalled the excitement and patriotic fervour in the town when Tiger Hill was won. "Today the people here wish to join the development mainstream," he said. In this context, Modi spoke of Pashmina, saffron cultivation and value addition in apple cultivation.
Dressed in traditional Ladakhi attire, Modi said government will do its best to bring a 'kesar' (saffron) revolution in J&K giving impetus to its production. He said three Ps -- Prakash (solar light), Paryavaran (environment) and Paryatan (tourism) -- are the assets of the state and all efforts would be taken for their development. Modi said there was a time when PMs never visited this state and he has come here two times already.