Rajnath Singh praises PM Narendra Modi for his Independence Day speech

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made clear the government’s stand on Jammu and Kashmir and raised issues of women rights like triple talaq in his Independence Day speech, which PMs in the 80s were unwilling to discuss, home minister Rajnath Singh has said.

“It was heartwarming to see the prime minister making his government’s stand clear when he said ‘na gaali na goli’ can resolve the complexities of Kashmir issue. On the contrary, it could only be resolved by embracing the common Kashmiri. The Centre has been consistent in its belief that the common Kashmiri wants to be an active stakeholder in the peace process. They have been made victims by certain vested interests who do not want peace in the Kashmir valley. The prime minister in his speech appealed to those who take recourse to violence and exhorted them to abjure violence and adopt democratic means to voice their concerns and grievances,” the home minister said in ‘Decoding PM’s Speech’, a piece penned for the media.

Singh said Modi had raised the issue of triple talaq in his speech which prime ministers in the 80s were unwilling to discuss. Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and VP Singh were the PMs in the 1980s.

He (Modi) expressed solidarity with the women who were fighting a spirited battle against malpractices of triple talaq.The PM admired the courage of those women who stood up for their rights. It is a big shift from the 80s when the governments and the prime ministers were unwilling to discuss the plight of women and their fight for rights,” the home minister said.

Singh also pointed the prime minister has appealed to people to shun violence of every hue and shade, “be it communal, casteist, or even a simple case of road rage,” he said. PM Modi assured honest citizens their honesty was cherished and valued — a remark one rarely comes across because most governments forget the silent majority of honest citizens.

He also assured the citizens that those who had looted the nation would not be allowed to sleep peacefully and would be brought to justice,” the home minister said.