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Bikaner, October 19
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday celebrated Dasehra with BSF jawans and performed “shastra puja” in this forward post along the India-Pakistan border.
This was for the first time that a senior Union minister conducted the “shastra puja” (worship of weapons) on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami along India’s border with Pakistan.
The Home Minister, who arrived at the frontier headquarters of the Border Security Force (BSF) here on Thursday evening, celebrated Dasehra with jawans. “Shastra puja” is part of Dasehra celebrations.
Addressing the BSF personnel, Singh praised the multi-dimensional role of the BSF in guarding the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders, maintaining law and order in internal disturbances and tackling the Left Wing Extremism.
Referring to the regular firing from across the border in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said Pakistan, despite being a neighbour, never exercised good neighbourly behaviour and instead sponsored terrorism. He said the terrorists infiltrating into Indian territory were coming from Pakistan only. “There is proper coordination among our Army, police and paramilitary forces to fight against them,” Singh said.
The Home Minister said that recently launched “smart fence” pilot project, which entails deploying laser-activated fences and technology-enabled barriers to plug vulnerable gaps along borders, would help the border guarding forces in maintaining peace in forward areas.
The project was launched along India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir and would be implemented along the India-Bangla border in Dhubri, Assam, next month, Singh said. During the two-day visit, the Home Minister interacted with the family members of the BSF personnel and attended a feast with the jawans, another official said. Later, he reviewed the situation on the border and assessed the progress in various infrastructure projects. — PTI
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