Till when will you take advantage by scratching wounds: Cong after PM's 'The Kashmir Files' remarks
New Delhi(PTI): After Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised "The Kashmir Files", a film based on the plight of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, and slammed the "campaign to discredit" it, the Congress accused the BJP government on Tuesday of not doing anything for the welfare of Kashmiri Pandits and asked till when "will you take advantage by scratching wounds"?
The Opposition party also asked as to how long will the "harvest of profit from the cultivation of hate" continue.
Modi on Tuesday praised "The Kashmir Files" and slammed the "campaign to discredit" it by those who claim to be the flagbearers of freedom of expression.
Hitting back at the prime minister, Congress's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked till when "will you take advantage by scratching wounds"?
He said Modi must tell the country that when Kashmiri Pandits were forced to flee the valley under the shadow of terror and barbarism in 1990, what were the 85 BJP MPs doing as it was on their support that the VP Singh government was running at the Centre.
"Why after removing the chief minister, the governor appointed by them instigated the Pandits to flee, instead of providing them security?" Surjewala asked in a series of tweets in Hindi.
"Remember, when Kashmiri Pandits were being persecuted and were fleeing under the BJP-backed government, Rajiv Gandhi 'gheraoed' Parliament and raised their voices. But the BJP gave tacit support to this tragedy, taking out a 'Rath Yatra' for political gains," he said.
The saffron party was like that then and has remained so, Surjewala added.
The Congress leader also asked what did the Modi government do for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits in the last eight years.
"The situation in Kashmir again worsened, violence escalated and thousands of Kashmiris had to flee. When you could not do anything for Kashmiri Pandits, you got down to showing a 'film' to people?" he asked.
How long will the harvest of profit from the cultivation of hate continue, Surjewala asked.
"For Kashmir and Kashmiri Pandits, in the UPA government -- 4,241 terrorists were killed in 10 years, 3,000 jobs were made available under the prime minister's package, 5,911 transit accommodation were built. In the Modi government -- 1,419 terrorists were killed in eight years, only 520 jobs were given, 1,000 transit accommodations built," he said.
Addressing the BJP parliamentary party meeting, Modi spoke at length about the film and lamented that no attempt has been made till now to make movies depicting the horrors of the partition and Emergency as there have been continuous efforts to "bury the truth".
"You must have heard the discussion about The Kashmir Files. Those who carry around the flag of freedom of expression, that whole group is rattled for the last few days," Modi said in his speech, the video of which was shared on Twitter by the BJP and several leaders of the saffron party.
"Instead of assessing the film on the basis of facts and truth, a campaign is on to discredit it. The whole ecosystem opposes anyone who tries to show the truth. They only try to project what they want to see as truth, the conspiracy for the last few days is to ensure that no one sees the truth," the prime minister said.
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India has agreed already to drop its tariffs to nothing: President Trump
New York/Washington, May 7 (PTI): US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said India has “agreed” to drop its high tariffs “to nothing”.
“I mean, India as an example, has one of the highest tariffs in the world. We’re not going to put up with that, and they’ve agreed already to drop it. They’ll drop it to nothing. They’ve already agreed. They would have never done that for anybody else but me,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
Trump and visiting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke to reporters as they met in the Oval Office to discuss the US-Canada trade.
“So we’re going to put down some numbers and we’re going to say our country is open for business and they’re going to come in and they’re going to pay for the privilege of being able to shop in the United States of America. It’s very simple. It’s very simple,” he added.
In the past, Trump has called India “tariff king” and a “big abuser”.
Last month, Trump had said that negotiations with India over a bilateral trade deal are “coming along great” and he thinks “we’ll have a deal with India”.
