UP minister visits Pulwama, says Modi govt will wipe out terrorism

Amid spotlight on the Narendra Modi government’s Kashmir policy, Mohsin Raza, the lone Muslim face in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, visited Pulwama to pay homage to the jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) who lost their lives in a suicide attack in February.

Amid spotlight on the Narendra Modi government’s Kashmir policy, Mohsin Raza, the lone Muslim face in the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, visited Pulwama to pay homage to the jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) who lost their lives in a suicide attack in February.

UP minister Mohsin Raza presenting a memento of UP Vidhan Sabha to Jammu and Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik. Raza is on Kashmir visit these days. (HT)

He touched the soil in respect to the jawans and saluted the soldiers.

Raza, who also met Jammu & Kashmir governor Satyapal Malik in Srinagar, said: “I was on a visit to Kashmir and couldn’t stop myself from visiting Pulwama where my country’s brave soldiers were martyred in a cowardly strike from across the border. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proved by ordering air strikes in Balakot that we are no longer a government that takes such attacks lying down. The Modi government will eliminate terror.”

UP minister Mohsin Raza visited Pulwama where several CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide attack masterminded by Pak-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT). The minister stood on the Jammu-Srinagar highway and touched the soil before saluting the spot where the Indian soldiers had been targeted in a cowardly manner.

Majority of casualties were reported to be of CRPF jawans from Uttar Pradesh including Ajit Kumar (Unnao), Pradeep Singh Yadav (Kannauj), Kaushal Rawat (Agra), Ram Vakeel (Mainpuri), Vijay Maurya (Deoria), Ramesh Yadav (Varanasi), Shyam Babu (Kanpur Dehat), Awadhesh Yadav (Chandauli), Pankaj Tripathi (Maharajganj).

During campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had promised to scrap Article 370 that provides special status to J&K.

“We don’t make hollow promises. We deliver. Kashmir was and will always remain an integral part of India,” he said.

Raza also presented a shawl and a memento of the UP Vidhan Sabha to the J&K governor.