JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Attempts are being made to revive the tumult of the 90s in J&K, but the Narendra Modi government will bury terrorism so deep that it never rears its head again, home minister Amit Shah said Monday at a campaign rally in Kishtwar district of Jammu division.
He urged voters to hand the National Conference-Congress combine a crushing defeat at the hustings for thinking they could get away with “promising to release incarcerated terrorists, if voted to govt”.
“Let me assure you that nobody would dare perpetuate terrorism as long as the Modi government is in charge,” he told the gathering at Padder-Nagseni assembly constituency.
“We have strengthened the ranks of village defence guards and special police officers. We have replaced their obsolete rifles with SLRs. We are creating a security grid. Terrorists will show up now and then, only to be wiped out.”
Shah said it was a travesty that the two parties responsible for providing a base for separatism and terrorism to grow in J&K had now joined hands to contest the election with the promise of peace.
“NC-Congress functionaries are saying that if they form the government, they will restore Article 370. Tell me, should it be restored?” the home minister said to a chorus of “no” from the audience.
“Don’t worry, I am there and watching the situation in J&K. Rest assured that neither (Farooq) Abdullah’s nor Rahul Gandhi’s party will be forming the government.”
Shah said NC chief Farooq needed to answer voters where he was when violence against Kashmiri Pandits was at its peak in Kishtwar and elsewhere in J&K, resulting in a mass exodus. “I know where he was then. He was enjoying the beaches near London,” he alleged.
“These parties (NC and Congress) shunted out Maharaja Hari Singh (erstwhile princely state Kashmir’s last monarch). Only his body returned to J&K.”
Shah also took a swipe at NC vice president Omar Abdullah for going back on his statement that he wouldn’t contest the assembly polls after losing the Lok Sabha battle. “He then decided to contest two seats. Let me tell you, you can’t win either,” he predicted.
The home minister’s visit to the Jammu region was his second since Sept 6. PM Modi had campaigned for BJP in Doda during the weekend.
BJP has fielded former minister Sunil Sharma in Padder-Nagseni and Shagun Parihar, daughter of slain party functionary Ajit Parihar, in Kishtwar. Shagun’s father and her uncle Ajit, who was BJP’s J&K secretary, were shot and killed in Nov 2018.
Shah referred to the killings in his speech. “The sacrifices of Chanderkant Sharma (an RSS functionary who was killed in April 2019) and the Parihar brothers are still fresh in our minds,” he said.
Monday was the last day of campaigning for elections in the 24 constituencies, including Padder-Nagseni, that will go to polls in the first of three phases on Sept 18.
He urged voters to hand the National Conference-Congress combine a crushing defeat at the hustings for thinking they could get away with “promising to release incarcerated terrorists, if voted to govt”.
“Let me assure you that nobody would dare perpetuate terrorism as long as the Modi government is in charge,” he told the gathering at Padder-Nagseni assembly constituency.
“We have strengthened the ranks of village defence guards and special police officers. We have replaced their obsolete rifles with SLRs. We are creating a security grid. Terrorists will show up now and then, only to be wiped out.”
Shah said it was a travesty that the two parties responsible for providing a base for separatism and terrorism to grow in J&K had now joined hands to contest the election with the promise of peace.
“NC-Congress functionaries are saying that if they form the government, they will restore Article 370. Tell me, should it be restored?” the home minister said to a chorus of “no” from the audience.
“Don’t worry, I am there and watching the situation in J&K. Rest assured that neither (Farooq) Abdullah’s nor Rahul Gandhi’s party will be forming the government.”
Shah said NC chief Farooq needed to answer voters where he was when violence against Kashmiri Pandits was at its peak in Kishtwar and elsewhere in J&K, resulting in a mass exodus. “I know where he was then. He was enjoying the beaches near London,” he alleged.
“These parties (NC and Congress) shunted out Maharaja Hari Singh (erstwhile princely state Kashmir’s last monarch). Only his body returned to J&K.”
Shah also took a swipe at NC vice president Omar Abdullah for going back on his statement that he wouldn’t contest the assembly polls after losing the Lok Sabha battle. “He then decided to contest two seats. Let me tell you, you can’t win either,” he predicted.
The home minister’s visit to the Jammu region was his second since Sept 6. PM Modi had campaigned for BJP in Doda during the weekend.
BJP has fielded former minister Sunil Sharma in Padder-Nagseni and Shagun Parihar, daughter of slain party functionary Ajit Parihar, in Kishtwar. Shagun’s father and her uncle Ajit, who was BJP’s J&K secretary, were shot and killed in Nov 2018.
Shah referred to the killings in his speech. “The sacrifices of Chanderkant Sharma (an RSS functionary who was killed in April 2019) and the Parihar brothers are still fresh in our minds,” he said.
Monday was the last day of campaigning for elections in the 24 constituencies, including Padder-Nagseni, that will go to polls in the first of three phases on Sept 18.