Asserting that the entire country was fed up with the senseless killings of Indian soldiers, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday demanded an ‘eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’ saying,
“We should kill 82 of them since 41 of our men have been killed.”
Advocating a strong stance in the wake of the Pulwama terror carnage, he called for tough coercive action against Pakistan, which he suggested could be military, diplomatic or economic, or a combination of all three.
While moving the resolution and seeking an adjournment on the fourth day of the budget session, Amarinder also urged the central government to retaliate against Pakistan, which had been blatantly supporting terror in Jammu & Kashmir as well as in Punjab.
Here are excerpts from his speech in the Vidhan Sabha:
‘Enough is enough’
“The attack on our soldiers at Pulwama should be condemned in the strongest possible words. This is getting beyond control now. This policy of Pakistan… they started in Kashmir and now want to bring it to Punjab. They are trying to link Kashmiri extremism with whatever is left of Punjab extremism.
“I want to warn (Pakistan Army chief ) General Bajwa and his stooges the ISI that if they dare to enter Punjab we will set them right.
“Enough is enough. Forty-one young lives of India have been destroyed in this one attack. For what? To please somebody? To please their bosses in Pakistan? They think it’s a joke that they can at any point come into India and kill our soldiers just because they want to please their bosses in Pakistan? Do they have no shame?
“There is time for talk but that is not now,” said Capt Amarinder.
He said it was for the Centre to decide what form of action should be taken, but added it was clear that some measures had to be taken urgently as “India wants it now”.
“No one is asking anyone to go to war, but these killings of soldiers are not a joke. Something has to be done. I’m fed up, the country is fed up,” said a visibly agitated Capt Amarinder, adding that he was not asking for war but definitely wanted tit-for-tat action against Pakistan.
“Pakistan can’t hold India to ransom just because they are a nuclear nation, even we are nuclear,” pointed out the Chief Minister, observing that they had nuclear capability even during Kargil but were defeated by the Indian forces. In any case, Islamabad could never resort to the use of nuclear weapons, as international pressure would not allow that, he said, suggesting that New Delhi should call Pakistan’s bluff against such threats.
The message needs to go out to Pakistan – stop meddling in J&K and stop promoting terror; enough is enough, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Pak hand in Pulwama was clear. It was evidently the Army that was calling the shots there, with Prime Minister Imran Khan also a plant of the military, he said.
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“The Indian government should take whatever measures required to tackle the terror and we will support them,” he said, adding that inputs could be taken from central agencies like RAW to formulate a structured strategy to deal with the situation. Questions were bound to be asked on the issue of intelligence failure in Pulwama, said the Chief Minister, adding that the government would need to answer for that.
Pointing out that ISI had tried to whip up mischief even in Punjab, where they had been unsuccessful, Amarinder called for a clear-cut policy framework to deal with them. “I have sent out the message loud and clear that our police force is not the same as it was in the 80s and 90s, but has been through the baptism of fire and is ready to deal with their sinister and evil designs,” he added.
If China and Muslim countries stop giving them doles, they (Pakistan) will be left struggling with a begging bowl in hand, the Chief Minister suggested. He called for a global diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, mooting harsh measures to put a lid, once and for all, on Islamabad’s anti-India actions. The surgical strikes had not achieved anything, he commented, adding that Islamabad needs to be made to understand that Indian soldiers are not dispensable.
Asked to comment on the attacks on Kashmiri students and others in the wake of the Pulwama incident, Capt Amarinder asserted they were very much part of the country and Punjab would ensure their full protection. Everyone in the force is one family and we are identified by our units not religion, he added, pointing to the unity in the Army as an example for the entire nation to emulate.
The Chief Minister hoped the Pulwama incident would not push back the Kartarpur initiative, which was the realisation of the aspirations of the entire Sikh community and with which his own grandfather was closely associated, having rebuilt it after the floods in 1920s.