BJP MP raps own govt over Pak flags in J&K

In an apparent indictment of the PDP-BJP, BJP MP and ex-home secretary RK Singh has said instances of people waving Pakistani flags in J&K had gone up because the government wasn’t acting against them

NEW DELHI: Around the same time that security forces fought off terrorists in Udhampur on Wednesday, BJP MP RK Singh hinted that the government wasn’t doing enough against separatist elements who waved Pakistani flags on the streets of Jammu & Kashmir.

The former home secretary said instances of people waving Pakistani flags had increased in recent times because the government wasn’t acting against them, a remark that came across as an indictment of the Mufti Mohd Sayeed-led coalition government’s handling of such instances.

“You would have seen that such incidents did not take place earlier because strict action was taken when one or two such instances happened,” he told the Lok Sabha, insisting that he was expressing the sentiments of the entire country.

The MP – who was known to push a hard line against terrorists during his stint at the home ministry too – said the Centre should have acted against such anti-national elements if the state government did not.

“I request the home ministry and the Centre to take action against them.... take strict action else it would boost the morale of anti-national elements,” he said.

Singh’s remarks come just a few days after he appeared to strike a discordant note on renewed hopes in the Modi government on dialogue with Pakistan. The bureaucratturned-politician had spoken on the futility of trusting Islamabad’s promises that it would rein in terror.