New Delhi: The security agencies have identified the terrorists behind the 22 April Pahalgam attack, and soon, will eliminate them, Manoj Sinha said, speaking on the occasion of his completion of 5 years as the Lt. Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, at a function in Gandhi Smriti, Delhi, Wednesday.
On the motive behind the attack, Lt. Governor Sinha said that it was to “create communal divide and disrupt peace of state and business activity, so that Pakistan can again start recruitment of handlers”.
“Terrorism has been the state policy of Pakistan, and it is in the DNA of Pakistan…since inception, it has used a terror policy post-1947, to attack Jammu & Kashmir. The recent attack was by the design and intention of Pakistan, too,” Manoj Sinha said.
However, “the people of Kashmir showed up and demonstrated how fed up they were with terror”, he added. “They want peace and prosperity.”
Two days ago, the L-G stunned the state, saying it was a “security failure” that led to the deaths of 26 innocent people in Pahalgam. “What happened in Pahalgam was very unfortunate. Innocent people were killed. I took full responsibility for the incident, but it was undoubtedly a security failure,” Manoj Sinha said.
Calling Pakistan the “biggest enemy of humanity”, he said that the “global powers will have to end terrorism from Pakistan; it is the duty of the global powers”. “Pakistan does not want prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir; our neighbour does not like peace in Kashmir. But there is a change brewing in the state, and local people have realised that their destiny and prosperity lie with India and in peace”.
Quoting a Gandhi speech, Sinha said, “Gandhi wanted peace and prosperity in Jammu & Kashmir. He once said that if one has to choose between cowardice and violence, the way is violence. And, when Pakistan disturbed the peace in Kashmir, Gandhi said our Army should move forward and defeat the enemy.”
In 1924, the late Mahatma Gandhi said, “My non-violence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving dear ones unprotected. Between violence and cowardly flight, I can prefer only violence to cowardice; shunning non-violence is the summit of bravery.”
Without directly saying it, Manoj Sinha cited the Gandhian philosophy as the context of the subsequent Indian attack on Pakistan.
At the event, Vijay Goel, the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti Vice-Chairperson, delivered a brief speech. He said, “Like Gandhi, Modi is bringing peace and prosperity in Jammu & Kashmir”.
Elaborating on the Kashmir situation since he had assumed the L-G role in 2020, Sinha said, “Kashmir’s economy has doubled. A Kashmir bank, specifically Jammu & Kashmir Bank, was running at a loss of Rs 1,300 crore, but today its profit margin stands at Rs 1,700 crore. Roughly 2.38 crore tourists visited Kashmir last year, and builders constructed 5,000 new hotels. A 1.5 lakh crore highway project is under construction here. A Tiranga Yatra took place in the village of Burhan Wani.”
During the Lok Sabha and assembly elections, the state was peaceful, he said. “Not a single incident happened, and there was no question about election integrity. Forget firing, not a single pebble was thrown. Currently, people are enjoying nightlife, and children are going to school.”
Operation Sindoor, Manoj Sinha said, showed that if anybody has bad intentions towards India, the country will give a befitting reply. He added that the most striking part of the operation was how the Army made use of India-made drones and other indigenously produced defence equipment to attack Pakistan. “Prime Minister Modi has said categorically that Operation Sindoor has not ended, and if any misadventure takes place, it will be treated as an act of war,” he added.
Discussing his efforts for establishing normalcy in J&K, L-G Sinha said, “The incident of throwing stones has become history, the recruitment of handlers by Pakistan is minimal. Earlier, it recruited 150 locals, but last year, there were only six such cases, and this year, it was only one case. Radicalisation has stopped.”
NIA officers showing no mercy to terrorists and public support for peace, and a change in their outlook were critical in bringing normalcy, he added.
“After abrogation of Article 370, the Prime Minister desired peace in the state, and my vision was clear on how to have peace and prosperity in the state—peace is not for buying but for establishing,” Manoj Sinha stated.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: ‘Some screamed with every thud, others prayed’—J&K residents recall night of Operation Sindoor
