Our fight is for Kashmir, not against Kashmiris: Modi

Tonk (Rajasthan) :  Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday denounced the attacks on Kashmiris in the wake of the Pulwama attack, saying such things should not happen in the country.

“Our fight is for Kashmir, not against Kashmiris,” Modi said at a Tonk public rally in Rajasthan, adding: “We want our sisters and brothers of Kashmir to be rid of terrorism.”

“Kashmiris have suffered the most due to terrorism, and the rest of the country must stand in their support,” Modi said

“Our fight is against those who sponsor terrorism,” he asserted.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has been a vociferous critic of the Prime Minister for his silence on the attacks on Kashmiris following the February 14 suicide attack that claimed the lives of 40 paramilitary troopers, welcomed Modi’s remarks and hoped the “forces targeting Kashmiris will stop in their tracks”.

“It’s been more than a week since the terrible attack in Pulwama and more than a week that Kashmiris have been bearing the brunt of the public anger.

“Perhaps finally after PM has spoken these forces targeting Kashmiris will stop in their tracks,” Abdullah tweeted.

Both him and another former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had criticised the Prime Minister for his silence over the attacks on Kashmiri students and businessmen in some states outside Jammu and Kashmir in the aftermath of the terror strike that took place on the Jammu-Srinagar highway when a Jaish-e-Mohammad operative rammed an explosive-laden SUV into a Central Reserve Police Force convoy, killing 40 CRPF men on the spot.

Party men of Abdullah’s National Conference took out a peaceful protest in Srinagar on Saturday to condemn attacks on Kashmiri students and businessmen in some of the states.

 Published on: Feb 23, 2019 at 16:50 IST

IANS