‘Modi Govt worked for making Kashmir terrorism-free'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday ruled out any dialogue with Pakistan as well as the Hurriyat Conference, but said the government can hold talks with the youth of the Kashmir valley.
Intervening in the debate on the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha, Shah also said that the now-scrapped Article 370 was the result of the alleged wrong policy of the then-prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the historic decision to completely merge Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country after abrogating Article 370, he said.
“We will neither hold talks with the Hurriyat nor with the Jamiat nor with Pakistan. We will hold talks only with the youth of the Valley,” he said.
The home minister said over 40,000 people lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir due to terrorism but the situation improved to a great extent after Article 370, which gave the erstwhile state special status, was abrogated.
Article 370 was abrogated on August 5, 2019, and the erstwhile state was divided into two Union territories — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Shah said the Modi government has ended the practice of the darbar move, abolished the Lakhanpur toll tax and worked for the development of Dalits and Adivasis living in Jammu and Kashmir and gave sanitation workers their rights.
He said cinema halls were opened in Kashmir after 33 years and night shows and the Shikara festival began too.
The home minister said stone-pelting has become history and temples in Jammu and Kashmir have been given protection.
Shah said in the Lok Sabha that the terror-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have been reduced by 68 per cent due to the effective steps taken by the Modi government.
Participating in the debate on the no-confidence motion, Shah said, “The situation in Kashmir has changed since 2014 due to our policies. We have worked towards making Kashmir terrorism-free,” he said.
National Conference President and MP Lok Sabha Farooq Abdullah said that “Prime Minister Modi doesn't represent only one colour, he represents the entire country.”
Abdullah said, “People of Kashmir stand proud to be part of India but this nation has a responsibility not only to Hindus but to everybody who lives in this country”.
Attacking the BJP-led government over the issue of the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits, he said, “I tried to bring back the innocent Kashmir Pandits to the valley, but how many of them are brought back by the Modi government in the last 10 years”
Rebutting Farooq Abdullah's remarks, MoS Home Nityanand Rai said, “To say that this government did not do anything for Kashmiri Pandit Hindus is wrong and misleading the House”.
“The Modi government has done an unprecedented development in Jammu and Kashmir in the last 10 years” he asserted.
“We always stood for India because we wanted to stand by this nation and please don't say we are not part of India …don't say we are Pakistani”.
Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani racked up the issue of Article 370 and the atrocities faced by the Kashmiri pandits. She said that “the opposition wants Article 370 back. They should remember one thing. Article 370 will never return to Kashmir. None of the Kashmiri Pandits will have to suffer genocide”.
Mentioning Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, she said, “I will not speak on his knee pain… the valley that India has seen to be soaked in blood, (but) when they went there, they were playing with snowballs. That was possible after Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi abrogated Article 370,” Irani added.
