Sanjeev Pargal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today that the operation to “clean-up militants” in Kashmir had been launched when he took over the helm of affairs and it will continue even as he took a strong dig at the Opposition saying whether the Army had to take permission from the Election Commission to kill the militants.
Without refering to the encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir today, Modi wondered, “Will our jawans take the Election Commission’s permission before opening fire at militants”?
“Opposition Nay Kya Khel Bana Rakha Hai? (What drama is the opposition enacting),” he lamented and said it was surprising to note that the opposition parties were saying that elections were on and the security forces were opening fire at the militants (in Kashmir).
In a series of tweets, address to the election rallies and interview given to a national Hindu news channel, Modi asked when the militants were standing in front of Army carrying `bombs and bandooks’ (bombs and guns) in Kashmir, should the troops first take permission from the Election Commission whether to kill the militants or not?

“Every second or third day, we have been killing the militants (in Kashmir). This is our task since we have come to power and operations to clean the militants will continue,” Modi said.
He disclosed that People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir with the BJP support, had claimed that 5000 to 10,000 people will be killed in the State in the event of conducting Panchayat elections.
“This was one of the reasons for withdrawal of our support to the Government,” he said, adding the Government then conducted Panchayat elections in the State, which were contested by about 30,000 candidates and not even a single incident of violence from any of the booths was reported.

On the other, Modi said, many people were killed during Panchayat elections in West Bengal and large number of elected Panchayat members had to take shelter in refugee camps. The elected members were able to return to their houses only after three months of the elections, he added.
He said Pakistan was now under pressure to act and oust the terrorists and their mentors.
“Pakistan is now publicly expressing anger against perpetrators of terrorists,” he added.
Referring to ‘Operation Balakote’ in which Indian airstrikes had led to several casualties of Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, Modi said he gave a go-ahead to Balakote airstrikes despite bad weather as he assumed cloud cover could help Indian jets escape Pakistan radars.
He recalled: “The weather suddenly turned bad and there were clouds and rains too.
“There was a doubt about whether we can go in the clouds. During a review (of the Balakote plan), by and large the opinion of experts was – what if we change the date. I had two issues in mind. One was secrecy and Secondly, I said I am not someone who knows the science. I said there is so much cloud and rain. There is a benefit. I have a raw wisdom; the clouds can benefit us too. We can escape the radar. Everyone was confused. Ultimately I said there are clouds… let’s proceed,” the Prime Minister told a news channel.

Modi accused the Congress of hatching the ‘Hindu terror’ conspiracy to defame the country’s religious heritage and great tradition for political gains. Referring to Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s “hua to hua” (It happened, so what?) remark on the anti-Sikh riots in 1984, Modi said it showed the Opposition party’s mentality. “Whenever terrorists nurtured in Pakistan attacked here, they (Congress) put innocent people in jails. Congress has hatched ‘Hindu atankwad’ conspiracy to defame our religious heritage,” Modi said.

Courtesy:Daily Excelsior,May 13,2019