Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday termed the Kashmir issue a chronic problem which will take time to be resolved. “But it will be realised,” he said.
He wished success to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, expressing hope that he would perform well on the political turf as he had been doing on the cricket field.
The HM allayed fears on any curb on democratic rights in the wake of the recent arrest of human rights activists, assuring “there will not be any effort to compress the pressure cooker”.
“I want to clarify that there will never be any effort to compress the pressure cooker. All have the right to speak, do whatever they want in democracy but no one will be allowed to destabilise the country or create violence,” he said at an event here.
Singh was answering a query on the Supreme Court’s comments that “Dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If you don’t allow the safety valve pressure cooker will burst”.
The apex court had said this while hearing a plea on the arrest of five activists under an anti-terror law on charges of indulging in Left wing extremism.
Replying to a question on the Khalistan agitation, the Union minister said it will not allowed to be revived. He said despite over 10 lakh Sikhs living in the UK, only 1,500 to 2,000 took part in the recent protest and not a single Sikh from India took part.