Modi vows to punish Uri attackers, hails soldiers

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the anger over the Uri attack was similar to the outrage India felt during the 1965 war with Pakistan and those responsible for the strike would be punished.

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The raid on the army camp was an act of cowardice that had shaken up the country, Modi said as he expressed confidence in ability of the army, which lost 18 men in the September 18 strike, to fight terror.

“People’s anger reflects the national conscience. This anger reflects the determination to act, do something for the nation,” Modi said in his monthly radio address Mann ki Baat. The statement comes less than 24 hours of the PM sending a stern message to Pakistan during a rally in Kerala, saying India would not forget the Uri attackers.

Pakistan, in turn, accused Modi of irresponsible behaviour and said his remarks were part of a “well thought out vilification campaign” to distract attention from Kashmir.

India has blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the worst attack against the army in Jammu and Kashmir in a decade though Modi didn’t name the neighbour in his radio address. “In the 1965 war, when late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri was leading us, the entire nation shared the same feelings -- determination, anger and patriotism,” he said. Modi sought to calm the tempers and urged the countrymen to channelise the anger to work for the country’s progress.

“Everyone wanted to do something or the other (in 1965). At that time, Shastri ably tried to relate to their feeling. He gave the slogan Jai Jawan Jai Kisan to inspire people to serve India,” Modi said.

Expressing confidence in the armed forces, he said, “We have full confidence in the Indian Army and are proud of them… the army doesn’t speak. They speak through their bravery.”

Modi paid tributes to the Uri soldiers, saying the loss was not just of their families but the entire country. “That is why, today I will say only this much… that the guilty will surely be punished,” he said. The PM reached out to the people in Kashmir, where street protests continue for the third month, saying problems could only be solved through peace and goodwill.

Eight-seven people, most of them civilians, have died in the unrest that erupted after a militant leader, Burhan Wani, was killed in a gunfight on July 8.

The people in Kashmir, he said, had “identified the anti-national forces and distanced themselves from them to walk towards peace”. The unrest and Uri assault have battered the already tenuous ties with Pakistan, which accused Modi of making baseless accusations. “It is unfortunate that Indian leadership continues to indulge in a well thought out vilification campaign against Pakistan by making provocative statements and baseless accusations. Such irresponsible display of behaviour at the highest political level is regrettable,” the Pakistan foreign office said on Sunday.

Pakistan again needled India, saying “atrocities” in Kashmir had intensified since the “extrajudicial killing of Kashmiri youth leader” Wani.

Worried over escalating war of words, the US said it was in favour of India and Pakistan engaging in direct dialogue.

“The United States strongly supports all efforts between India and Pakistan that can contribute to a more stable, democratic, and prosperous region, including meetings between the Indian and Pakistani officials,” a state department official said.

(With agency inputs)