Jitendra: Those inciting youth for ‘jihad’ have kept their kin safe

New Delhi, August 28

There is a need to educate youth in Kashmir against those working with vested interests to harm the country’s unity, Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said, observing that those instigating the youth for the so-called ‘jihad’ have kept their own children in safe havens.

He also said that those who had lost their lives in the current turmoil in the Kashmir valley belonged to the poorest of the poor sections.

“And those who provoked these poor people to come forward and lay down their lives in the name of so-called jihad have ensured that their own children and families are lodged in safe havens,” Singh, who represents Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur constituency in the Lok Sabha, said here.

The Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office questioned those provoking youth to take up violent paths in J&K in the name of “jannat” and asked why they didn’t offer their own children the opportunity to go to jannat or paradise.

He said there should be no compromise in countering terrorism and the Centre was committed to taking action against those inciting violence. But at the same time every step should be taken to ensure safety of innocent people, especially youth and children.

“There is a need for educating youth that they should not get instigated or misled by some people working with vested interests to harm the country’s unity,” said the minister.

He hoped that the situation in the Valley would soon be normal. Singh said there was complete coordination between the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir Government to resolve the situation in parts of the state.

He attacked Pakistan for the turmoil in the Valley. “The common man in the streets of Srinagar does not approve of violence but there are a handful of people sponsored by Pakistan who are provoking youth and creating trouble in the Kashmir valley,”the minister said.

As many as 68 people, including two police personnel, have been killed and several thousand injured in the continuing unrest in Kashmir since July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter. —PTI