Terrorist design to shift focus to Jammu will not succeed: Dr Jitendra

Kathua, June 12: Union Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh Wednesday said that the terrorists, in desperation following the pressure by security forces in the Kashmir valley, were on the run and were trying to shift the focus of their activities to the Jammu region.

“But terrorist designs to shift focus to the Jammu region will not succeed,” he said.

Dr Jitendra was speaking to the media after visiting the civilian injured in Kathua attack Om Prakash, who underwent a successful orthopaedic surgery in GMC Hospital, Kathua here and after paying condolence to the family members of late Amarjeet Sharma, who was found dead with his throat slit in Mela village, a day before encounter.

The Union Minister said that the basic difference which the sponsors of terrorism from across the border failed to understand was that they would never be able to get the ground support of the local population in this region if they expected it to their advantage.

Dr Jitendra, who is also the Union Minister of State (independent charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (independent charge) for Earth Sciences besides being MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space and MoS Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said that this entire region including the Hiranagar sector where this incident had taken place was inhabited by the people who were nationalist and patriotic to the core.

“This was evident even during the present incident where the civilians stood by the security forces in not only providing decisive information about the movements of the suspected terrorists but also helping the security forces to nab the terrorists in hiding,” Union Minister said.

Being a land of Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, Dr Jitendra said, people of this region for several decades struggled against the anti-national forces in every form and therefore the terrorists and their sponsors should understand once and for all that the misadventure of seeking to sow the seeds of anti-India terrorism in this region would not only boomerang on them but also teach them a befitting lesson.

Referring to Prime Minister Modi's policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism as the basic Mantra of government's approach, Dr Jitendra said such incidents were also an indication of terrorism having entered its last phase and terrorists finding themselves at their wit's end. He said, unlike the earlier governments, the government headed by PM Narendra Modi had proven to the world its ability to strike at the right moment and at the right place which was evident in the surgical strike and similar other decisive proactive operations which were undertaken in the last one decade and contributed to the restoration of peace and normalcy in the Kashmir Valley.

Appreciating the coordination between the civil administration and the security forces, Dr Jitendra said, “Certain important suggestions have been received today from the security experts which will be placed before the concerned authorities and which might serve as further deterrent for any possible future terror activities.”