Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah on Sunday accused former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of not taking any action when “Pakistan beheaded five Indian soldiers” in 2013. Shah, who made the remarks a public meeting in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district, pointed out that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ordered the Balakot airstrikes soon after 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in February. The BJP president had levelled the same accusation against Singh last month too.
However, Pakistani troops have been accused of mutilating Indian soldiers’ bodies a number of times in the past few years during the BJP administration’s rule at the Centre. In June, the Indian Army lodged a strong protest with Pakistan regarding the beheading of two soldiers along the Line of Control in Poonch district’s Krishna Ghati sector. One solider was also found mutilated in October 2016 in the Machhal sector of Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Shah said the BJP will revoke Article 370, which grants special powers to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir, if Narendra Modi is re-elected to power. Abrogation of Article 370 is also mentioned in the saffron party’s manifesto.
Shah said National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, an ally of the Congress, had demanded a separate prime minister for Kashmir. “Rahul baba and company, pay attention,” the BJP president added. “No one can separate Kashmir from India until there is life in the bodies of BJP workers.”
Shah criticised the Congress for promising to review the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Kashmir and to amend provisions of sedition law.
The BJP president also rebuked Congress leader Sam Pitroda for his remarks on the 1984 anti-Sikh violence. “If you ask a question regarding the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Congress says ‘hua to hua [it happened, so what?]’,” Shah said. “If you ask a question regarding the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and migration of Kashmiri Pandits, Congress says ‘hua to hua’.”
Pitroda apologised for his comment on Friday and said he had been misrepresented.
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