PM Modi slams attack on Kashmiris by ‘crazed people’

New Delhi: Two days after two Kashmiri men selling dry fruits were assaulted in Lucknow by a group of men linked to a right-wing fringe outfit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday condemned the incident and said the attack was carried out by some “crazed people”, while asking state governments to take strict action if there is any attack on residents from the frontier state.

Appreciating the timely action taken by the Uttar Pradesh government in the Lucknow incident, Mr Modi said, “It is very important to maintain an atmosphere of unity in the country.”

Addressing a gathering in Kanpur, Mr Modi called the Lucknow perpetrators “sirphirey log” (crazed people), in near identical remarks at the meeting and on Twitter.

The attack was part of a countrywide backlash against Kashmiris after it became known that a 19-year-old from Jammu and Kashmir was the suicide bomber responsible for last month’s terror attack in Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF personnel died.

Mr Modi said the UP government immediately acted against some “crazed people” who had targeted our “our Kashmiri brothers”.

“I would also like to request other state governments to take strict action, wherever such acts take place,” he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing a gathering after flagging off the commercial run on Lucknow Metro’s North-South corridor, through video conferencing  from Kanpur.

Mr Modi also laid the foundation stone for the Agra Metro Rail project at the same event.

At a separate event in Ghaziabad, the Prime Minister lashed at Opposition leaders who have sought “proof” of the damage inflicted on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training camp at Balakot in the Indian Air Force strike in retaliation to the Pulwama attack.
    
“Will you (people) do anything that appeases Pakistan or makes Pakistan clap? But some of our Opposition leaders have been doing the same for the past 10 days. Identify these people, they are not worried about the country, but scared of going behind the bars and that is why they want to capture power at the Centre,” Mr Modi said.

Pointing about a tweet by a Pakistan Army spokesperson about the airstrike, Mr Modi said, “Is Pakistan ‘moorkh’ (stupid) that it would say that we have been struck? But this is our people asking for proof. Opposition parties can hear it loud and clear... The trust of 130-crore people is my proof. Please stop games that appease Pakistan.”

Mr Modi accused the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, among others, of not being ready to trust the armed forces.

“They are the same people who raised questions and disrespected the armed forces after the (2016) surgical strike. And, gradually when all the facts emerged, they turned speechless,” he said.