Srinagar, Oct 31 (HS): Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday said certain elements were unable to accept the peace, stability and progress that Jammu and Kashmir has seen, and warned that anyone trying to push the Union Territory back towards separatism and terrorism would be dealt with so severely that “seven generations” would remember it. He did not name anyone.

Speaking at a function in Srinagar, the LG said: “There is no place in Jammu and Kashmir for conflict entrepreneurs.” His remarks were seen as a veiled reference to National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah’s recent comments on Pakistan.

Sinha said many people of the older generation tell him they had long ago made peace with their circumstances and had given up hope of change. “But in this time, God has been kind. The picture of Jammu and Kashmir has changed in our lifetime,” he said. He said it was also true that some people could not accept the stability, peace, progress and positive change in the lives of ordinary citizens.

“Instead of talking about India, they talk about a country where people stand in line for flour,” he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan. He said India’s stature is established on every international platform, and that even the strongest countries feel proud to be in talks with it. “But there are some people who do not understand this,” he said.

The LG said it was these same people who wanted to push J&K back into separatism and terrorism. He said the common people of J&K, and the Kashmir valley in particular, have now recognised such faces, and that comments on social media show this. According to him, ordinary Kashmiris say such elements have caused J&K great harm, while their own children study abroad, they own houses in London and Switzerland and live a luxury life in big cities.

He said this reaction reflects a new awareness among the Valley’s young men and women and its citizens. “Terrorism will not be allowed to flourish again in this soil. I want to warn that anyone who tries this will get the same place that has rightly been prepared for such people,” he said.

Sinha said security forces and the J&K Police have resolved to eliminate the remaining terror elements soon. He said those whose survival depended on separatism and the “conflict industry” have been exposed and are now unemployed, and that he was saying this responsibly.

He assured the public that anyone who tries to disturb their quality of life, progress, peace and comfort would be punished so severely that “seven generations” of his family would remember. He said that, with the cooperation of the Government of India, efforts will be made to give the youth of J&K employment and adequate opportunities.

Farooq Abdullah’s remarks, made at a workers’ convention in Baramulla on October 24, were reported to have credited Pakistan with raising the Kashmir issue internationally, with the words “He is protecting us; otherwise their intentions are not good.” The BJP called them seditious and anti-national and sought action against him, while the NC said that nothing in the speech was seditious and that it had been misrepresented.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Zahoor Hussain Bhat