Terrorism in J&K needs to be tackled militarily first. Talks can take place later: Ram Madhav

Speaking exclusively to WION after the announcement of the general elections, Ram Madhav said that globally, insurgencies are first tackled militarily and once that is done, talks follow. The national general secretary of the BJP was speaking in the context of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ram Madhav had been asked why the BJP had not initiated talks within the Valley. He answered that Home Minister Rajnath Singh had invited various sections of society to talk but that no one responded.

“The other side is not willing to talk. They want to persist with terrorism. Globally, governments deal with terror sternly. We have seen it in Afghanistan also. I would include Pakistan also,” Ram Madhav said.

Ram Madhav said that the root cause of the terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir lies elsewhere and that that needs to be dealt a serious blow. “If you hold a gun to my head and force me to talk, then I would say that it is not the way in which we believe.”

In a freewheeling interview with WION, Ram Madhav said Pakistan had been sent the stern message that India is not soft on terror.

He added that even internally, both the Congress and TDP have acted tough on Maoist terror, emphasising the point that terror will be tackled muscularly first and that only then will talks take place.

Speaking of the Lok Sabha elections, Ram Madhav said the BJP is all set to return to power.

He said the BJP has more alliance partners today than the Congress and that the Mahagathbandhan is yet to take shape.

The biggest achievement of the Narendra Modi administration, he added, has been to provide a corruption-free government.

On the other hand, he denied the narrative that the government is over-reliant on nationalism.

He did however admit that the Chhattisgarh assembly election result had been a rude surprise for the BJP with the party losing 10 per cent of its vote share in the state.

Attacking the Grand Alliance, he said, “There is no Grand Alliance in place. They have not been able to forge alliance in Delhi.” He said that the SP-BSP have come together because they cannot defeat the BJP in a one-to-one fight, but he added that the BJP does not take any adversary lightly.

On Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Ram Madhav said her entry into politics is not going to change anything in Uttar Pradesh. “It is her re-entry. Priyanaka has always been around but we do not take our political opponents lightly.”

Ram Madhav is the BJP’s general secretary in-charge of both the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir. It had been thought the Election Commission would announce simultaneous polls in J&K (the state assembly was dissolved in November last year) but that did not turn out to be the case.

Addressing the issue, Ram Madhav said the EC should be allowed to take an independent view of the matter.

Lastly, he said mediation has failed four times in Ayodhya and that it would only delay the matter further. “We respect the Supreme Court, but it has to be understood that millions of people believe in the place of birth of Lord Rama and the piece of land should be returned to them.”