As unrest continues in Kashmir, the central government on Sunday outlined its priorities, asserting that there will be no compromise with those indulging in violence even efforts will be made for development of the state which was "denied" for the last 60 years.
Acknowledging that situation in Kashmir was "serious", senior union minister Arun Jaitley said those indulging in stone-pelting in Kashmir are "not satyagrahis but aggressors" who target police and security forces but some people with limited vision cannot see this.
Addressing a rally on the outskirts of Jammu city, he also slammed Pakistan for the current unrest, saying it was "attacking the integrity of India" in a "new way" after failing to snatch the state by waging wars and fuelling trouble ever since partition in 1947.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has three priorities for Jammu and Kashmir, said Jaitley, Minister of Finance.
Outlining these priorities, he said, "There will be no compromise on the security and integrity of the country and no compromise with the people who indulge in violence.
"Secondly, as Jammu and Kashmir has faced violence and wars, it needs development which was denied for past 60 years by National Conference and Congress governments. Thirdly, Jammu, being the support base of BJP, needs added attention."
His outlining of the priorities assumes signficance as the opposition has been accusing the Modi government of having no policy with regard to dealing with the unrest. The opposition parties have been pressing for a political solution and dialogue to address the unrest.
Talking in the context of ongoing 44-day unrest in Kashmir, Jaitley said, "Now this time, a serious situation has emerged in which Pakistan, separatists and religious forces have joined hands and now with a new way, they are attacking the integrity of India."
Describing it as a "major challenge", he said, "today in such a challenge, the need of the country is that we don’t compromise with the integrity and security of the nation."
He asked people of Jammu and Kashmir to stand with the country in the "struggle against the separatists" so that "this new phase of Pakistani strategy of war is defeated this time as well".
He described stone-pelters as aggressors.
"They (stone pelters) are not satyagrahis but aggressors. If a police post manned by 10 police personal is attacked by 2000 stone pelters, it is an attack, but some people do not realise it," he said.
Jaitley said that after facing defeats in two wars, Pakistan realized that it was not possible to snatch Jammu and Kashmir from India by means of wars, so it started training and pushing in terrorists.
"But after those terrorists were getting eliminated, it adopted anew strategy. When Amaranth agitation started in Jammu in 2008, they found a new way and stone pelting started.
"Children going to school were given stones in their bags instead of books to target police and security forces and the people with limited vision could only see the arrested stone pelters but could not see thousands of injured police and CRPF personnel in the hospitals," said the union minister and BJP leader.
He said ever since the partition, Pakistan never recognised Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India.
"If you see the history, you will find that Pakistan never accepted Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of India. The day country got divided, India had a positive agenda as it wanted to come out of poverty to improve livelihood of the people, education, fight with poverty.
"Many problems came and we fought them and came out of them and its impact is that India, born in poverty, is known in the whole world as the fastest growing economy," he said.
On the other hand, "the agenda of Pakistan was not to improve the livelihood of its people but to divert their attention from the real issue by raining slogans in Kashmir and India," the union minister said.
Referring to the Pakistani aggression in 1947, he said, "India was not ready and it launched attack on Jammu and Kashmir and took some part of the state."
The subsequent two wars of 1965 and 1971 made India emerge as a strong military power in conventional warfare.
"After defeats in war, Pakistan tried to internationalize Kashmir but world was not ready to listen to them. In 1990, they realized they would not win J&K through war. So they started sending in terrorists and started this phase. They set up camps and used to send terrorists, but India learned to deal with such situation and in thousands these terrorists were eliminated," he said.
Photograph: PTI Photo