Amend statute to fully integrate Kashmir with Bharat — RSS chief
Bhagwat dismisses reports of cow vigilantes indulging in communal violence
Stirring up again the raging controversy over the demand to abolish Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat yesterday said constitutional amendments were needed to fully integrate the troubled state with the rest of India.
Speaking on a range of issues in his annual address to RSS volunteers on its 92nd foundation day here, Bhagwat also dismissed reports of cow vigilantes indulging in communal violence, saying those protecting bovines were, in fact, being “attacked and killed”.
He asked the Modi’s government not to misinterpret the facts on the issue, and punish the criminals and not harm innocents as the “virtuous work of cow protection will increase in coming days”.
The BJP’s ideologue gave the thumbs up to the government on the economic situation even as the RSS chief sought special protection for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the “tremors” caused by the “cleaning and reform” drives like demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax regime.
He spoke elaborately on the Kashmir issue in his annual Vijaya Dashami speech and said Hindus who migrated to the state from west Pakistan in 1947 were in a “miserable state for their decision to be in Bharat and remain as Hindu”.
He blamed certain constitutional provisions, like Article 35(A) that empowers the state’s legislature to define Jammu and Kashmir residents and accord citizenship rights to them, for the “backward life” of these Hindu migrants.