Rajnath Singh, the defence minister, was speaking at a Shaurya Diwas celebration in Budgam, Srinagar, to mark the arrival of Indian forces there on October 27, 1947, 75 years ago, to fight Pakistan-backed tribesmen who attempted to seize control of the Valley.
The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, stepped up his criticism of Pakistan on Thursday, emphasising that it was committing atrocities against people living in the occupied areas and will suffer the consequences. He claimed that after “reaching Gilgit and Baltistan,” which are parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, India will be able to fully develop its two union territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
“We have just begun our development journey in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. This mission will be completed only when we reach the remaining parts such as Gilgit and Baltistan in line with Parliament’s resolution (of 1994 that demanded Pakistan vacate the occupied territories)… And the dream of Acharya Shankaracharya and Vallabhbhai Patel will be fulfilled and the refugees of 1947 will get justice and will get back their land. And the day isn’t far away when this mandate will also get fulfilled,” he said at a Shaurya Diwas event in Budgam on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The occasion honours the entry of Indian forces into Kashmir on October 27, 1947, when the then-Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession, in order to battle tribesmen backed by Pakistan who had attempted to seize control of the Valley. This happened seventy-five years ago.
“We have just begun our development journey in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. This mission will be completed only when we reach the remaining parts such as Gilgit and Baltistan in line with Parliament’s resolution (of 1994 that demanded Pakistan vacate the occupied territories)… And the dream of Acharya Shankaracharya and Vallabhbhai Patel will be fulfilled and the refugees of 1947 will get justice and will get back their land. And the day isn’t far away when this mandate will also get fulfilled,” he said at a Shaurya Diwas event in Budgam on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The occasion honours the entry of Indian forces into Kashmir on October 27, 1947, when the then-Maharaja Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession, in order to battle tribesmen backed by Pakistan who had attempted to seize control of the Valley.
This happened seventy-five years ago.
Rajnath Singh complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speech for removing Article 370’s unique status for the former state, which, in his opinion, allowed Jammu and Kashmir to achieve full integration.
“It was the beginning of a new dawn in J&K… We have been waiting for the integration of J&K for the last seven decades,” Singh said, describing the abrogation of Article 370 as a step that ends discrimination against the people of the two union territories.
“I want to ask Pakistan, what rights have been given to people who live in the regions that are under its forcible occupation,” he said, mounting a sharp attack on the neighbouring country that has been training, arming and funding terrorism in the region.
“Whatever Pakistan is doing now in PoK, it will reap the consequences in the times to come.”