Headlines
No compromise over national issues, says BJP
New Delhi, April 17
The BJP said on Friday
that there would be no compromise on "certain basic principles" while
dealing with issues of national importance like separatist leader Masrat
Alam and others raising pro-Pakistan slogans and waiving its flag.
The
NDA government at the Centre follows a "zero tolerance policy against
terrorism and separatism", Minister of State in the Prime Minister's
Office Jitendra Singh told reporters here.
The minister clarified
that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not be under any pressure
"merely for existence in the governance or a coalition".
"Nobody
can go away with this impression that merely for existence in the
governance or in a coalition, the BJP would be ready to compromise on
any of these principles," he said.
The minister, however, said the Jammu and Kashmir government has been taking action and the issue is being looked into.
Masrat
Alam, who was placed under house arrest on Thursday night, is under
police detention in Badgam district of the state where a police
complaint was lodged against him over raising pro-Pakistan solgans and
waiving its flag on April 15.
Another separatist leader, Syed Ali Geelani was also placed under house arrest.
Police
lodged a first information report (FIR) against Masrat Alam on April 15
when he led a separatist rally for Geelani, who reached Srinagar that
day after spending over three months in Delhi for medical treatment.
Youths displayed Pakistani flags and shouted pro-Azadi and pro-Pakistan slogans during the rally.
On March 7, the Jammu and Kashmir government released Masrat Alam from preventive detention after more than four years.
He
was arrested during the 2010 unrest in the Kashmir Valley. He was
accused of inciting youth during the unrest, leading to clashes between
mobs and security forces in which at least 112 people were killed.