Modi Begs in Srinagar for Muslim Votes

Srinagar fortified for Modi, BJP men say strikes may affect rally

M Saleem Pandit,TNN | Dec 7, 2014, 03.12 AM IST

READ MORE Narendra Modi|J&K assembly elections|Srinagar fortified for Modi|terror attack

Sources said security agencies have advised the Prime Minister's chopper should either land at Badami Bagh Cantonment or Nehru Helipad to shorten the distance to the venue.

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SRINAGAR: Multi-layered security arrangements have been put in place ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election rally in Srinagar on Monday in the backdrop of synchronized militant attacks.

Special Protection Group (SPG) has taken over the rally venue, Sher-i-Kashmir Stadium, under the leadership of a deputy inspector general-rank officer.

Thirty paramilitary forces companies have been deployed in and around the stadium while sharpshooters have been being deployed on nearby buildings.

"People, who would attend the rally, would be frisked at nearly a dozen places before they enter the stadium," said a source.

CCTV cameras have been installed inside the stadium while SPG personnel would monitor activities of the crowd with binoculars.

Sources said security agencies have advised the prime minister's chopper should either land at Badami Bagh Cantonment or Nehru Helipad to shorten the distance to the venue.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah made light of the BJP's claim that one lakh people were expected to attend the rally.

"Getting people for the rally is not a difficult task for the BJP as they have lot of money. And Sajjad Lone is also working for this rally but converting that rally into vote is really a challenge for the PM," he said.

He had earlier asked Modi to apologize to Kashmiris over his ministerial colleagues abusive remarks.

"Jammu & Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state and senior minister of Modi government used such bad words against my people. We all want to listen to Modi what he will say to people of Kashmir about it," he had said.

A BJP worker said the synchronized attacks had shaken them and could impact the attendance at the Modi's rally. "We will try to keep away from the venue and watch Modi's speech on TV."

But BJP general secretary Ram Madhav maintained the attacks would have no impact on the rally. "We salute our brave troops and as long as they are on the ground, we need not to worry about the security."

"The stadium would be filled to its capacity. People would certainly come to listen to Modi on Monday." 

 

 

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Sid Harth • 2 mins ago

For this, Afghanistan may not be a good candidate. In Fortaleza, Modi had declared, “India will continue to assist Afghanistan in building its capacity in governance, security and economic development”. But months later, Praveen Swami informed us in a report in this paper: “Frustrated with India’s failure to deliver long-promised military aid, new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has told New Delhi that he wishes to revisit his predecessor’s request for assistance.” It seems Ghani has now turned to Beijing for help. While India cannot expect much from Sri Lanka, where the Chinese have also gained influence, Bangladesh may be its friend again, in spite of the anti-immigrant propaganda that peppered the BJP election campaign. But for that, Delhi and Dhaka will have to sign the Teesta water-sharing accord. The Indian government could follow the precepts of the “Gujral doctrine” here. Shaping a new doctrine in foreign policy has never been easy anyway. The writer is senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/ CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s India Institute, London, Princeton Global Scholar and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Source: Indian Express ...and I am Sid Harth

Sid Harth • 3 mins ago

Meanwhile, all is not calm in the South Asian region either. In another unprecedented move, Modi had invited the heads of the SAARC countries to his swearing-in and started to engage Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the terrorism issue. But Pakistan followed this up by violating the ceasefire on the LoC, killing civilians. In August, Modi cancelled scheduled talks between the two foreign secretaries after Pakistani officials spoke to Kashmiri “separatists”. The following month, Nawaz Sharif brought up Kashmir at the UN General Assembly. By retaliating to Pakistani attacks, Indian jawans may have “shut their mouth”, as Modi pointed out, and this will bolster his popularity at home. But it also means that he will have to turn to other SAARC countries to shape a workable policy for a friendly neighbourhood. For this, Afghanistan may not be a good candidate. In Fortaleza, Modi had declared, “India will continue to assist Afghanistan in building its capacity in governance, security and economic development”. But months later, Praveen Swami informed us in a report in this paper: “Frustrated with India’s failure to deliver long-promised military aid, new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has told New Delhi that he wishes to revisit his predecessor’s request for assistance.” It seems Ghani has now turned to Beijing for help.

Sid Harth • 3 mins ago

Today, the India-China border dispute has become a warm, if not a hot, subject again. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has declared that “peace cannot come at the cost of honour” and India has plans to build a road along the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh, labelled South Tibet in Chinese maps. While speaking of the project, Singh had said: “Today, no one can give warnings to India. We are a very powerful country.” Nevertheless, India has decided to instal cameras along the border with China, for additional protection, and to open 54 new border posts along a section of the disputed border. Beijing has responded to the latter decision by advising India not to “do things that may complicate the situation”. If the situation does not improve, the vast amounts of FDI from China may not be that welcome. The Chinese do have intense trade relations with their best enemies, including Japan and Taiwan, but with India, things may be different. Already, The Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, has argued against delinking economic relations with China from border issues. Whether Modi persists with negotiations with China for the sake of FDI remains to be seen.

Sid Harth • 3 mins ago

The main difficulty in attracting Chinese FDI, the largest potential amount on the table right now (American companies will probably wait for new labour laws and other reforms), may lie in the erratic relations between Delhi and Beijing. Immediately after assuming office, Modi had sent out strong signals of assertion to China. The Tibetan prime minister-in-exile, Lobsang Sangay, was invited to his swearing-in and he visited Bhutan, Japan, Nepal and Vietnam, four countries likely to be affected by China’s expansionism — like India has been. Breaking with the slow, incremental modus operandi of his predecessors, Modi met Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit at Fortaleza in July and urged for an amicable solution to the India-China border dispute. It was a bold move, to which China has responded — by launching border incursions even as Xi visited India. One might find in this echoes of the Chinese attack on Vietnam in 1979, while Vajpayee, then the foreign minister, was on an official visit to Hanoi. In addition, shortly after Modi had agreed to operationalise a $100 billion line of credit to enable Vietnam to acquire naval vessels from India, a Chinese nuclear submarine docked at the Colombo port for the second time in two months. This, in spite of Delhi having expressed its displeasure when it had happened the first time.

Sid Harth • 4 mins ago

Modi’s rapprochement with China, the rising star of the world economy, is more of a change, more promising and more complicated. When he received Chinese President Xi Jinping in Gujarat, which seems to be the focal point of his economic diplomacy, Modi was in a position to announce that China was prepared to invest massively in India. Reports in the Indian media indicated that Beijing would commit $100 billion of FDI over the next five years — Japan had promised only $35 billion. Such plans are key to the success of Modi’s industrialisation projects, publicised under the motto, “Make in India”. But are they feasible or reasonable? Feasibility depends partly on the attitude of the Indian states: after the PM meets his counterparts, cooperation depends largely on state governments. Modi was candid enough to revise the figures cited in the media: “$100 billion investments from Japan, China and America have applied for visa. Now it is turn of the states to capitalise on the opportunity”. It also depends on sections of the Sangh Parivar toning down the rhetoric of “swadeshi” — this may not be as easy as it was under Vajpayee, but it is far from impossible.

Sid Harth • 7 mins ago

The economic dimension of Modi’s diplomacy was evident in early September, when he went to Japan, his first trip out of South Asia. During his visit there, Modi declared, “Mere blood mein money hai (Money is in my blood)” —

Sid Harth • 8 mins ago

But foreign policy is not composed only of assertions of power or the tamasha (spectacle) of occasions such as the G-20 meet. It must pursue coherent goals and result in achievements that may or may not appeal to the public, such as the Indo-US nuclear deal. Modi’s foreign policy seems to highlight two priorities: India’s economic interests (something Manmohan Singh also emphasised, occasionally confusing pragmatism with opportunism) and its immediate neighbourhood (for security reasons, among other things).

Sid Harth • 9 mins ago

A Modi doctrine? When he received Xi in Gujarat, Modi announced that China was prepared to invest massively in India. When he received Xi in Gujarat, Modi announced that China was prepared to invest massively in India. Written by Christophe Jaffrelot | Posted: November 20, 2014 12:05 am Many commentators have (often pleasantly) been surprised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s considerable investment in foreign policy, borne out by his incessant trips to various countries. Yet this is what one should expect from nationalist leaders. Was it not the trademark of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who demonstrated it in an even more dramatic manner by testing India’s nuclear devices immediately after taking power in 1998?

Sid Harth • 14 mins ago

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement in Parliament on his recent trip to Jammu and Kashmir, on April 23, 2003 In the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he assured the people that we wish to resolve all issues – both domestic and external – through talks. He also said that the gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. The following is the text of Valpayee’s statement. Honourable Speaker, I went to Jammu and Kashmir on a two-day visit on April 18-19, 2003. I had five programmes in Srinagar. The first had to do with the foundation-stone laying ceremony for modernisation of Srinagar Airport. This project would double the capacity of the airport. We would like international air services to start from Srinagar. The second programme related to the National Highway Development Project. Under this, work on a four-lane highway from Srinagar to Kanyakumari was launched. The newly elected Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, had been insisting that work on this project in the Kashmir Valley should start as early as possible. In my public rally, I congratulated the people of Kashmir on participating in the assembly elections in large numbers. They exercised their franchise defying the threat of bullets. I assured them, “We have come here to share your pain and suffering. Whatever complaints you have, try to address them collectively. Knock on the doors of Delhi. Delhi will never close its doors for you. The doors of our heart will also remain open for you.” I assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we wish to resolve all issues – both domestic and external – through talks. I stressed that the gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. Issues can be resolved if we move forward guided by the three principles of Insaaniyat (humanism), Jamhooriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s age old legacy of amity). In my speech, I spoke of extending our hand of friendship to Pakistan. At the same time, I also said that this hand of friendship should be extended by both sides. Both countries should resolve that we need to live together in peace. My last programme was about the start of work on the construction of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line. It is our resolve to ensure that train services start in Kashmir Valley before August 15, 2007. Umemployment is the greatest problem facing the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. We have decided to facilitate creation of 100,000 opportunities for employment and self-employment over the next two years. For this, a special task force would be set up with representatives from the central government, state government, industry, commerce, banking and financial institutions. The Task Force will present its report by June 30 and implementation would commence from August 15 this year.

Sid Harth • 15 mins ago

In my speech, I spoke of extending our hand of friendship to Pakistan. At the same time, I also said that this hand of friendship should be extended by both sides. Both countries should resolve that we need to live together in peace. My last programme was about the start of work on the construction of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway line. It is our resolve to ensure that train services start in Kashmir Valley before August 15, 2007. Umemployment is the greatest problem facing the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. We have decided to facilitate creation of 100,000 opportunities for employment and self-employment over the next two years. For this, a special task force would be set up with representatives from the central government, state government, industry, commerce, banking and financial institutions. The Task Force will present its report by June 30 and implementation would commence from August 15 this year. At a press conference before returning to Delhi, I expressed the hope that a new beginning can take place between India and Pakistan. I said that we have extended our hand of friendship. Let us see how Pakistan responds to this. Stopping cross-border infiltration and destruction of terrorist infrastructure can open the doors for talks. Talks can take place on all issues, including that of Jammu and Kashmir. Thank you.”

Sid Harth • 15 mins ago

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement in Parliament on his recent trip to Jammu and Kashmir, on April 23, 2003 In the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said during his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, he assured the people that we wish to resolve all issues – both domestic and external – through talks. He also said that the gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. The following is the text of Valpayee’s statement. Honourable Speaker, I went to Jammu and Kashmir on a two-day visit on April 18-19, 2003. I had five programmes in Srinagar. The first had to do with the foundation-stone laying ceremony for modernisation of Srinagar Airport. This project would double the capacity of the airport. We would like international air services to start from Srinagar. The second programme related to the National Highway Development Project. Under this, work on a four-lane highway from Srinagar to Kanyakumari was launched. The newly elected Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, had been insisting that work on this project in the Kashmir Valley should start as early as possible. In my public rally, I congratulated the people of Kashmir on participating in the assembly elections in large numbers. They exercised their franchise defying the threat of bullets. I assured them, “We have come here to share your pain and suffering. Whatever complaints you have, try to address them collectively. Knock on the doors of Delhi. Delhi will never close its doors for you. The doors of our heart will also remain open for you.” I assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we wish to resolve all issues – both domestic and external – through talks. I stressed that the gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. Issues can be resolved if we move forward guided by the three principles of Insaaniyat (humanism), Jamhooriyat (democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s age old legacy of amity).

Sid Harth • 16 mins ago

However, it appears from statements this week that the separatists will not engage in talks with Vohra. Hurriyat leaders and Shabbir Shah, leader of the Democratic Freedom Party, want the process to begin with talks between them and Vajpayee first. Shabbir Shah had engaged in several rounds of talks with K C Pant, a former interlocutor. He feels that there is no point in talking to Vohra. Will Vajpayee’s initiative lead to some change in the Valley? A lot depends on the infiltration this summer. If that increases, as is feared, the peace initiative will prove to be another false start. What response Vohra receives from moderate separatists this week will determine to a significant extent whether the political initiative will prove rewarding. In the longer run, the fact that the Hurriyat, marginalized by its boycott of the elections, is desperate to maneuver its way out of the corner augurs well. But whether it will relent and talk to Delhi will depend on how the militants react. And that, of course, will depend on how Islamabad wants them to act. If nothing else, Vajpayee’s peace overture, peppered as it was with poetry and imagery, should provide the average violence-weary Kashmiri with some hope to survive on. (©2003 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved.

Sid Harth • 16 mins ago

Vajpayee’s peace overtures to Pakistan have been welcomed by several political parties in the country, including the Congress (the PDP’s partner in the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s main rival nationally). The US State Department, too, has welcomed the initiative. Incidentally, around the time Vajpayee was smoking the peace pipe at the public rally, Richard Haas of the State Department admitted that the United States had not succeeded in getting Pakistan to stop infiltration of terrorists into India. The Pakistani government’s immediate response to Vajpayee’s offer was positive. However, the Pakistani media were more skeptical. In an editorial headlined “A suspect offer”, the Pakistan daily The Nation said, “If India’s attitude to Pakistan ever since partition 55 years ago is anything to go by, Vajpayee’s offer is nothing but a subterfuge.” Vajpayee’s statement that N N Vohra, the central government’s interlocutor, would invite leaders of various organizations for talks and that all are welcome to join the dialogue has raised hope in the state. The statement evoked a positive response even from the Hurriyat Conference, which generally rejects any initiative from Delhi. Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat, a hawk in the umbrella organization of separatist groups, grudgingly admitted that “there is a change in the mindset as well as the style of the prime minister with regard to the resolution of the conflict.”

Sid Harth • 17 mins ago

No economic package was announced. However, the prime minister did address a key concern of the Kashmiri people by announcing a package to deal with the unemployment problem in the state. A comprehensive plan to create at least 100,000 employment and self-employment opportunities in the next two years is on the anvil. A special task force comprising representatives of the central and state governments, industry, banks and financial institutions is to be set up. Implementation of the plan will begin by August 15, the prime minister promised. During his visit, Vajpayee laid the foundation stone for a new airport terminal at Srinagar. He said Srinagar airport would soon be upgraded to an international airport. He also laid the foundation for the North-South corridor that links Kashmir, India’s northernmost state, with Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip. A railway bridge and computerized railway reservation center were also inaugurated. With regard to the peace initiative, while he did not specifically mention the Hurriyat Conference, the prime minister clarified that the government was willing to engage with anyone who wanted to talk with it. Vajpayee came out in strong support of the chief minister’s “healing touch” policy but clarified that this policy would not apply to the militants.

Sid Harth • 18 mins ago

Vajpayee made his peace overtures at a mammoth public rally in Srinagar’s Sher-e-Kashmir stadium. The rally was a historic one – it is the first time since the eruption of the militancy that a prime minister has addressed a public meeting. The last public meeting addressed by a premier here was in 1987, when Rajiv Gandhi visited Srinagar. Since the start of the militancy, Indian leaders have only addressed the troops here, as did Vajpayee last May. About 20,000 Kashmiris participated in the rally. While many among them are said to be supporters of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who were brought in from neighboring districts, that so many people showed up despite a call for a general strike by the Hurriyat Conference and the Hizbul Mujahideen is significant. Srinagar’s roads were deserted and shops were shut. Yet thousands showed up for the public meeting. At the rally, Vajpayee extended a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan and said he was willing to try talks again with Islamabad. His readiness to talk to Pakistan comes at a time when some of his cabinet colleagues, including Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha and Defense Minister George Fernandes, have been talking of preemptive strikes and making a case for attacking Pakistan as Washington attacked Iraq. Interacting later with the media, Vajpayee, while insisting that Pakistan would have to stop support to cross-border terrorism, said he was willing to talk to Islamabad on any issue, including Jammu and Kashmir. With regard to Kashmir, Vajpayee stressed that only talks could resolve the problems. “Guns only kill people, not hunger,” he said. While the positive tenor of his speeches could, as some analysts point out, mark the start of a new initiative vis-a-vis Pakistan and a new era in Delhi’s relations with Kashmir, the experience of several false starts over the past few years would call for cautious optimism. Some Kashmiri analysts have said the visit resulted in nothing substantial and that Vajpayee used poetry and rhetoric in his speeches to sway the people. In the run-up to the two-day visit, there were expectations that the prime minister would make substantial gestures. After all, this was his first visit to the state since it went to the polls last September-October to elect a new assembly. There were expectations that he would announce a generous economic package. Some Kashmiris were hoping for a ceasefire. Others hoped that with the prime minister would give a boost to the current peace initiative by welcoming the moderate separatists, who had stayed out of the poll process, to participate in the dialogue process.

Sid Harth • 20 mins ago

Modi Ain’t no Vajpayee South Asia Atal Bihari Vajpayee Angry Unseen Speech In Parliament Atal Bihari Vajpayee Speech in Parliament on Confidence Motion – PART 2/2 KASHMIR IN FOCUS Poetry, imagery and renewed hopes By Sudha RamachandranBANGALORE – The contrast in the style and content of the speeches could not have been more marked. If during his previous visit to Kashmir last May Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s speech was patently belligerent, the tone and tenor of his public address in Srinagar last week was conciliatory.It was amid the spiraling tension between India and Pakistan last May, when the world feared that the two countries were on the verge of a nuclear war, that Vajpayee visited Kashmir. During a tour of the front lines in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, Vajpayee in a speech to the Indian troops thundered, “Our goal should be victory, because now the time has come for a decisive fight, and in this war we will win … We have to fight our own war, we are ready for it, and we are prepared for it.”In contrast, the main theme of Vajpayee’s public address last Friday was peace, dialogue and reconciliation. In fact, he repeated the need for dialogue more than a dozen times in his 12-minute speech. The government of India, he said, is ready to solve all internal and external issues through negotiations. Incidentally, Vajpayee’s peace overture comes at a time of heightened hostile rhetoric by leaders in Indian and Pakistan.

Source: TOI

...and I am Sid Harth