On the occasion of 70th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in his over 90-minute speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort spoke on a number of issues.
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India must pursue the issue seriously, identify the leaders of the liberation movements in these regions and India must highlight their issues at global fora.
This time around, in the carousel that is Indian politics, the party that made the first Baluchistan reference in 2009 is now the one protesting Modi’s doing the same. “I can only characterise its contents that propose sending supplies to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir as absurd”, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
The BJP was aggressive in its attack on Congress at its briefing in which its National Secretary Sidharth Nath Singh targeted it.
Unfortunately, things seem set to get even worse with the Union government, giving out clear signals that it is not interested in calming tempers or solving the issue.
Baluchistan’s chief minister, Sanaullah Zehri, said the attack was simply the result of “a handful of miscreants” who were “playing into the hands of Indian intelligence agency”.
He also accused some of the Congress leaders of issuing statements which tend to support Pakistan. On Monday, India celebrated its 69th Independence Day, but the northern state experienced its darkest celebration in 26 years with the death of 10 people.
Congress – the main opposition party in the Parliament asked the government to raise the issue of atrocities in Balochistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in bilateral meetings with Pakistan and in front of worldwide forums.
“We are loyal to Pakistan and we love our country”, Zehri said while giving his reaction to Indian prime minister’s statement over Balochistan. “Let them focus on human rights violation, massacres and atrocities there”, he said.
He, however, maintained that Pakistan has no locus standi in addressing any aspect of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internal matter of India, except to put an end to cross-border terrorism and infiltration.
Pakistan responded to this by saying that India is trying to “divert” the attention of the worldwide community for the unrest taking place in Kashmir.
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Remarks by Dawn, Pakistan’s oldest English daily, added by stating Modi’s language seemed “aggressive”; and his comments came a breach of “diplomatic norms”. He also appeared to be supporting the Karnataka Police decision to register an FIR under IPC sections, including sedition, after anti-India slogans were raised at an Amnesty International India event.
