'Tiranga Yatra' aimed at liberating Pakistan occupied Kashmir: Jitendra Singh

Minister of State in Prime Minister Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh on Saturday said the aim of the 'Tiranga Yatra' initiated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to commemorate India's 70th Independence Day anniversary is to free people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir from Islamabad's illegal occupation and make them part of India.

"I think the 'Tiranga Yatra', which is beginning from the border district of Kathua, has special significance in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call given yesterday that all of us have to dedicate ourselves for liberating Pakistan occupied Kashmir from the illegal occupation of Pakistan and ensuring that it again becomes the part Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Union," he told the media here.

"It is our moral and national responsibility to stand by our brothers in PoK and also in Gilgit-Baltistan," he added.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a clear stand on terrorism and would deal with it sternly.

"The Prime Minister has taken a clear stand that there will be no compromise on terrorism. Terrorist forces will be dealt the way they are handled, irrespective of where they belong, no matter which ideology they subscribe to," he said.

He acknowledged that the youth, who get misguided in the name of jihad come from poor family, and assured that the government would take apt steps to bring them back in the mainstream.

The BJP MPs will carry out 'Tiranga Yatra' for a week from August 15-22 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Independence Day.