Rajnath Singh promises to change 'face and destiny' of Kashmir

Union minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the government has a "lot of love" for the state and the Centre has decided to withdraw cases against those "misled into stone pelting" as it was concerned about the future of Jammu and Kashmir's youth.

Singh, who is in Jammu and Kashmir in wake of a series of terror attacks and ceasefire violations, said "We believe that children anywhere are the same. We understand that some youth were misled into stone pelting.

"Children can make mistakes... That is why we decided to withdraw the cases against those children who were involved in stone pelting," he said.

The Union home ministry late last year had ordered to withdraw cases against youths involved in stone pelting.

Singh appealed to the youth not to tread the path of destruction and said the Centre and the state government had initiated several schemes to help them secure their future.

"I want to appeal to the youth that they should take the path of development... They should not go on the path of destruction," he said at a sports function at the Sher-e-Kashmir Indoor Stadium here.

"There is extreme love in the heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Jammu and Kashmir.

"It is our responsibility to provide a secure future to the youth of the state and it can be done with the power of education and miracle of sports," Singh said.

Lauding the state government for carrying out works for improving the sports infrastructure, the home minister said funds will not be a problem for promoting sports in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Funds will be provided for promotion of water sports at Mansar and Pahalgam... Funds will be arranged for development of sports infrastructure," he said.

"With the help of the Jammu and Kashmir government, we will change the face and destiny of the state," Singh said