Rajnath to talk to JK CM on unilateral ceasefire appeal

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said today that while he had not been directly apprised of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's appeal for a unilateral ceasefire during Ramzan, he will talk to her about it.

"I have not held direct talks with her on the issue but I have got this information...I will talk to her after going to New Delhi," Singh told reporters at the sidelines of an event organised by the BSF on the outskirts of the state capital.

He was asked to comment on J&K chief minister's appeal to the Centre to consider a unilateral ceasefire starting from Ramzan in mid-May till the completion of the Amarnath Yatra in August.

 

To a question on a tourist from Chennai being killed in stone pelting in Kashmir, Singh said it was "most unfortunate". "The incident of a tourist dying due to stone pelting is most unfortunate...everyone is condemning it," he said.

Asked about the BJP's prospects against a united Opposition in the coming bypolls in Kairana (Lok Sabha) and Noorpur (Assembly), Singh said, "Despite all parties joining hands, the BJP will win both the seats."

We will win the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the Narendra Modi government has undertaken so many development works that people will not be able to ignore, he said.

"Development works cannot be totally ignored," he said adding the BJP was set to form government in Karnataka.

Earlier, addressing a teachers' conference here, Singh said the role of teachers was not only to build the character of students, but also nation building.

"Knowledge in life is not everything. Along with knowledge, values are also needed. There are many who became terrorists after getting technical degrees," Singh, who is the local MP, said.

"Friedman has written that there are many similarities between Infosys and Al-Qaeda. In both the organisation, educated youngsters work. The role of one of these is destructive while the other is welfare-oriented. The only difference between the two is that of values," Singh said referring to author Thomas Friedman.