Pak-sponsored terrorism on last legs in Kashmir: BJP leader

Jammu, Sep 16 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Devender Singh Rana on Saturday said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is on its last legs in Jammu and Kashmir and slammed valley-based politicians advocating a dialogue with the neighbouring country.

Rana, a former legislator, said the people of Jammu and Kashmir are now realising the dividends of peace more than before.

National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said militancy in Jammu and Kashmir will not end until India and Pakistan hold a dialogue to find a lasting solution to all conflicts, while Congress leader Saif-ud-din Soz said the doors of dialogue should be opened to end the bloodshed in the valley.

The two leaders made the remarks in the aftermath of the recent encounters that left five security personnel including an army colonel, a major and a deputy superintendent of police dead in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Rajouri in Jammu region.

“The Centre has, time and again, made its policy of terror and talks not going together very clear and still those trying to carve out an unsolicited role for themselves, for whatever reason, by jumping the line, should understand that India cannot engage itself with a country that sprouts terrorism,” Rana said in a statement here.

Questioning the sensibilities of the “self-proclaimed votaries” of India-Pakistan talks and their sense of proportion, he expressed surprise and anguish over unwarranted rants of engaging Islamabad in dialogue even before the last rites of the bravehearts were held.

“The insensitive terror ecosystem should learn a lesson from the common man in Kashmir who took to the streets and joined the candle march to pay their tributes to valiant martyrs, who offered supreme sacrifice to maintain the prevailing momentum of normalcy in the valley,” Rana said.

He said the anger against the recent terror acts in the valley, as elsewhere in the country, is a mute reminder to the “rejected and frustrated political elite who seize such opportunities to play dirty politics in the mistaken belief of remaining relevant to politics”.

He said they forget that Kashmir has transformed and stands for peace and this urge has become predominant during the last four years that have witnessed near normalcy, leading to buzzing economic activity and humming tourist influx.

“The dubious role of the terror ecosystem to run politics over the graves and the miseries of common people has now become obsolete, which is why the people are up in arms against the cult of violence and disruption.

“The people of Jammu and Kashmir are realising the dividends of peace now more than before,” he said.

Notwithstanding the isolated terror attacks, Rana reiterated that terrorism emanating from Pakistan is on its last legs on the Indian soil of Kashmir due to focussed operations and campaigns of the security forces, the police and the people in particular, who have undergone a most traumatic phase during the past over three decades.

“A few people may try to condone or downplay the barbarism unleashed by terrorists in terms of death and devastation caused, and continuously being perpetrated, by the Pakistani lackeys but that does not change the ugly face of Pakistan and its ecosystem in Kashmir,” he said.

He said Pakistan-sponsored terrorists cannot hold peace to ransom, as they are destined to doom and meet their designated fate.

“In the guns they keep brandishing lies their ultimate end,” he said, paying tributes to the fallen security personnel.