Jaipur, Apr 22:
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said India’s stand against terrorism has been weakened on several occasions by the Congress party. Addressing a press conference here, Singh said, “They (Congress) have given a new theory of Hindu terrorism. There is no religion or caste of terrorism. Their new theory weakened India’s stand against terrorism.” He said repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) was another such case which undermined India’s stand. “In 2004, India had an agreement with Pakistan in which its former army chief had assured that the country will not provide shelter and allow terrorism to flourish on its soil, but Congress tried weakening India’s stand, saying Pakistan was also a victim of terrorism,” he said. The home minister said the opposition was doing politics over issues which should not be politicised. Instead of praising the defence forces after the airstrike in Balakot of Pakistan, the opposition parties questioned it with queries on number of terrorists killed, he said. “When such types of questions are asked, it weakens India’s stand against terrorism,” he said. Speaking on the Congress’ election manifesto promising to scrap the sedition law, Singh said the law should be further strengthened but it should not be misused. Talking about Articles 370 and 35A for Jammu and Kashmir, he said it was a temporary arrangement and it was time to review it. “How much the entitlement benefitted Jammu and Kashmir? When a few people are raising questions there should be two prime ministers in the country then what is the significance of Article 370 and 35A,” Singh asked. He exuded confidence that the first two phases of Lok Sabha elections reflected a wave in favour of the BJP, and there was no doubt the party will get a clear majority and possibly the NDA will achieve 3/4th majority.
