Says Will Not Allow Exodus from Jammu
NEW DELHI: Government Monday ruled out any terror or external link to the violence in Jammu region even as members in the Rajya Sabha warned that the recent events should not be treated as mere inter-community clash as the country’s “sovereignty and integrity” is at stake.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram, speaking on behalf of indisposed Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, said the overall situation in the state is under control and asserted that the repeat of 1990 will not be allowed.
His reference to 1990 related to the migration of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir valley following outbreak of armed rebellion against Indian rule.
Both houses of parliament were disrupted over the riots in Kishtwar town even as the central government sought a report from the state government amid demands that Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah be sacked.
“So far, two Muslims and one Hindu have died in the clashes. All of us are Indians. Three Indian lives have been lost and that is a matter of great regret,” Chidambaram said in the upper house of parliament.
“We will not allow repetition of 1990. We will not allow forced migration, we will not allow forced resettlement, everybody will be protected in the area in which he or she lives,” Chidambaram said.
Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed fears that the violence in Jammu may lead to a situation similar to the one in the Valley in 1990.
As Jaitley questioned his detention at Jammu airport by the Jammu and Kashmir government, Chidambaram defended the move saying the time was not right for the opposition leader’s visit.
Omar Abdullah hit out at Jaitley for terming the Kishtwar violence “a threat to India’s sovereignty”.
He called BJP leaders “hypocrites” and pointed to the party-led Gujarat government’s response to the 2002 sectarian riots.
Omar’s father and federal New and Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah raised the issue of the Gujarat riots in which over 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed.
“When the riots occurred in Gujarat in 2002, the army was not allowed inside. No one from outside was allowed to enter Ahmedabad. Gujarat is not a property of Modi.”
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) accused the BJP and its ideological mentor RSS of provoking violence against Muslims in the Jammu region and urged the state to take firm steps against rumour mongers and rioters.
“There are reports that activists of the BJP, RSS (and) VHP are fanning out and inciting people to attack houses and shops owned by the minority community,” a CPI-M statement said.
The central government sought a report from the Jammu and Kashmir government over the violence.
“We are in constant touch with the Jammu and Kashmir government and are seeking a report from them,” federal Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N. Singh said.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati demanded president’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, saying the state government had failed to handle the situation in Kishtwar after last Friday’s communal violence. The Samajwadi Party said Omar Abdullah should not be sacked.
“Law and order has failed in Jammu and Kashmir and the state government has failed to control the situation. I demand that the state government be dismissed and president’s rule be imposed,” Mayawati said in the Rajya Sabha.
“The state alone cannot manage the situation. But dismissing the (state) government is not a solution either,” Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav told the Rajya Sabha. Agencies
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