Separatism must be uprooted from JK: Modi

Haryana, Oct 15:Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that his government will stop water flowing to Pakistan and divert it to Haryana as it rightfully belongs to the country and the farmers of the state.

“For 70 years, water that belonged to Haryana’s farmers and to us flowed to Pakistan…But this Modi will stop that water and bring it to your house. I have already started working on it. The water belongs to India and farmers of Haryana…That is why Modi is fighting this for you,” he said at an election rally here.

 Referring to J&K, the PM said that “separatism must be uprooted” from the state.

He made the statement while hitting out at the rival Congress party over Article 370, while addressing an election campaign here.

“They (Congress) are creating hullabaloo over Article 370 across the world. Politics continues, elections come and go, victory and loss happen. But national security remains the top priority. Till when terrorism and separatism will prevail in J&K? Till when brave soldiers will be martyred?” he said.

“Today, we are taking tough and big public interest decisions regarding humanity. The phase of separatism must end, the lives of young people should not be destroyed, mothers should not be bereaved of her son,” he added.

In August, the government revoked Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and also divided the state into two union territories- J&K and Ladakh.

The Prime Minister continued: “We see a mother from Kashmir performing ‘namaaz’ 5 times a day & bowing her head before ‘Allah’, to call back her son from joining militancy. I want to ask Congress leaders, should not such mothers get their sons back?”

He said that irrespective of the Congress’ stand on Article 370, the government will take decisions in the national interest without a second thought.

Modi reiterated that the abrogation of Article 370 led to the integration of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country, saying the region would now see fast-paced development and prosperity.

Modi said that the central government is making all arrangement so that people can celebrate Prakash Parv of Guru Govind Singh.

“I am happy that the Kartarpur Corridor project is about to be completed. We are fortunate that we have got the chance to fix the political & strategic failure that happened seven decades ago, to some extent,” he added.

Taking at dig previous Congress, the Prime Minister said that state governments before 2014, used to keep an eye on the vote of the farmers of Haryana and their land.

“This is the first time in the last 5 years that meaningful steps have been taken to protect the interests of the farmers of Haryana. The BJP government here has made ended scam related to the purchase of land. License for change of land use is now decided to be given through open auction,” he said.

Haryana, where 90 Assembly seats are at stake, will go to polls on October 21. The counting of votes will take place on October 24.

Lauding women for proving their mettle in various fields, Modi said that this year’s Diwali in Haryana should be dedicated to “our daughters and celebrate their achievements”.

“ We will have two types of Diwali this time. A ‘diya’ (earthen lamp) Diwali, and a ‘kamal’ (lotus) Diwali. We should dedicate this Diwali to our daughters and celebrate their achievements,” the Prime Minister said.

Urging the people to re-elect the BJP again in the ensuing Assembly elections, Modi said that the state is witnessing progress due to “double engine” of development.

“The double engine of Modi in Delhi and Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana has resulted in unprecedented development of the state,” he added.

The Prime Minister is currently in Haryana and is addressing rallies as part of BJP’s electioneering ahead of the Assembly polls.

The state will head for elections on October 21 in a single phase. Counting of votes will take place on October 24.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)