Agencies
NEW DELHI, MAY 2
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said Pakistan should stop interfering in India`s internal matters and rather worry about their own selves."Pakistan should worry about themselves and should not interfere in the internal matters of India. We cannot accept even any other nation`s interference in India`s internal matters," Singh told ANI.
Singh`s reaction comes after Aslam had earlier said that any efforts to create special townships in Jammu and Kashmir would violate the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, and added that the people of the state are resisting such change.
"Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory. The UN Security Council resolutions have pronounced very clearly on the status of the Jammu and Kashmir. Pending the final settlement through plebiscite, the two countries have administrative responsibilities in the disputed territory. But, there is a very clear direction that there cannot be any demographic change and there cannot be any step which would alter the makeup of the state of Jammu and Kashmir," Aslam said at her regular media briefing.
"Any effort to create special and dedicated townships, zones or any other step to alter the demographic composition of Jammu and Kashmir is in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. We have already seen how the people of Jammu and Kashmir are resisting the possibility of such measures," she added.
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also dismissed Pakistan`s remarks stating that the community, along with Muslims and Sikhs, are an integral part of the state.
Hoisting of Pak Flags: Sayeed promises action against Geelani
Agencies
JAMMU, MAY 2
After protests triggered in Jammu and Kashmir over raising of Pakistani flag at separatist leader Syed Geelani's rally, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed on Saturday issued a statement that his government will take action against such elements.
Addressing a press conference, Sayeed said that Geelani is desperate for attention and his government will take action against raising of Pakistani flag at his rally.
“Law will take its own course,” he said.
Meanwhile, protesters in J&K burnt Geelani's effigy and demanded his immediate arrest.
TV visuals showed crowds waving Pakistani flags at the rally held in Tral.
Hardline Hurriyat Conference Geelani leader also warned the Central government at the rally, and demanded that duration of the Hindu pilgrimage Amarnath Yatra be restricted to one month.
Last month too, Pakistani flags were raised at a rally organised in Srinagar by Geelani. Separatist leader Masarat Alam, who was released from jail in March, was present at the rally where anti-India slogans were raised.
Following a hue and cry, Alam was later detained and subsequently arrested under the Public Safety Act under which the separatist leader could be jailed for at least two years.
Agencies
AHMEDABAD, MAY 2
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on Saturday said red-tape in governance has been removed and transparency introduced since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office but translating his slogan of development of all will be a "long race".
On the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir led by him, Sayeed said, "I call this... As if North pole and South pole have met each other."
On a visit to Gujarat where Modi had served as chief minister for long, Sayeed said people were waiting for 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas', Modi's famous slogan, to translate into reality, but it was going to be a "long race".
"There is no red-tape, transparency is everywhere. Such a model has come up before this country," he said, commenting on Modi's performance as the Prime Minister.
"Narendra Modi made Gujarat a model. I have sent my bureaucrats here to see the systems in panchayats. The system will work when it is transparent, corruption-free and if there is no red-tape in it. System works with single-window system," Sayeed said at an event to promote tourism.
"But India is a big country. There are so many people here; diversity is the essence of India. Unity in diversity. People here have elected him for three or four times (as Gujarat CM)... Modi gave the slogan 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas' (support to all, development of all). People are waiting for it. Where has it gone? They do not know this is a long race," he said.
"If you want to set up an industry, it also takes three to four years. Same is the case with a power project," he said, suggesting that bringing about development for all too would take some time.
Sayeed was accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb A Drabu, Minister of State for Education Priya Sethi and some senior officials.
PTI
SRINAGAR, MAY 2
Opposition National Conference today said they will not let Jammu and Kashmir government to set up separate colonies for Kashmiri Pandits but would strive for return of the minority community to their native places in the Valley.
"We are against separate clusters for Kashmiri Pandits. We welcome them (to Kashmir), but we will not let the government to create separate colonies for them," NC general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar told reporters during a protest rally against the new recruitment policy of the state government.
Sagar said National Conference has always supported the return of Kashmiri Pandits to their native places in the Valley.
"We have always said that we want them to return to the Valley and settle at their native places along with their Muslim brothers," he said.
On the new recruitment policy, Sagar said it was an "injustice" with the youth of the state.
"The new recruitment policy is anti-youth. It is an injustice with the youth of the state where unemployment is a big problem. We demand its immediate roll-back, otherwise we will intensify protests against it and take legal course as well," he said.
On the issue of presence of Pakistani flags in a rally led by hardline Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani at Tral in south Kashmir yesterday, Sagar said "there is no big deal in it".
"Such flags have been hoisted before this as well. There are people who like Pakistan, there are people who want freedom and they do such things. There is no big deal in it," he said.
The NC workers, led by Sagar and provincial president Kashmir Nasir Aslam Wani, marched from Nawa-i-Subh to Regal Chowk near Lal Chowk in the heart of the city here.
