‘None can reverse reservations of Paharis, NC tried to stall bill’ We want to give guns to youth but for jobs in security forces Govt won’t allow gunfire to resonate again in Jammu’s hills Sanjeev Pargal JAMMU, Sept 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said today that there is no firing on the Line of Control (LoC) now as Pakistan is afraid of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and declared that a bullet fired from across the border will be replied with an artillery shell. Shah today addressed five mammoth election rallies at Surankote, Mendhar, Rajouri, Thannamandi, all in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri; and Akhnoor in Jammu district. Three of the five Assembly segments share LoC with Pakistan.
People had turned in large numbers at all the places. There was massive enthusiasm among Pahari kabila people who have been given Scheduled Tribe (ST) status by the Central Government some time back. “There used to be firing on LoC since nineties.
You all know that. Now Pakistan is afraid of Narendra Modi. They don’t indulge in firing.
If they will fire a bullet, our security forces will retaliate by firing an artillery shell,” Shah said amid huge response from the crowd. “The previous rulers were frightened of Pakistan, but now Pakistan fears Modi,” he added. Shah made a sensational disclosure that reservation to Paharis was stalled because of National Conference.
“For six months, we couldn’t pass the bill in Parliament because their (NC’s) Judge MP (a reference to Hasnain Masoodi, who was Lok Sabha member from South Kashmir in the previous House) opposed the reservations. They even instigated Gujjars and Bakerwals,” he said, adding even now they want to snatch the reservations which they have stated in their manifesto too. However, the Home Minister declared, till there is Narendra Modi Government at the Centre none can snatch the reservations of Paharis, Gujjar and Bakerwals.
“We gave them reservations in promotions also,” he said. “Even if Abdullahs turn upside down, the reservations can’t be reversed,” he declared. Charging National Conference vice president and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah with saying that terrorism will re-erupt in Jammu and Kashmir, Shah said: “I want to tell him that with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister and I as the Home Minister, we will never allow terrorism to enter again.
Where was Dr Farooq Abdullah when terrorism was ripping the Valley apart? He was enjoying holidays in London. Do you want a Government like this”? Shah said a leader of National Conference had stated that flag of the NC is red because there is terrorism in J&K. “Tell me can terrorism do good to anyone.
What do they want to achieve by giving guns to youths? Even we are ready to give guns to the youth but as soldiers in Army, paramilitary forces and police. We will hold special recruitment camps for Pahari youths in J&K to give them jobs in the Armed Forces,” he said. Modi Government has buried terrorism so deep that even next three generations of NC and Congress will not be able to bring it back, he added.
On People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba Mufti, he said the PDP is not going to win even five seats in the Assembly elections. “First phase of the elections is over. I can tell you from the data that Farooq Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) are not going to form a Government.
They kept our youth helpless but we want to make them strong. We want to give them rights instead of darkness,” Shah said and blamed NC and Government for the deaths of 40,000 people in Jammu and Kashmir saying they promoted terrorism and are responsible for Kashmir remaining under a strike for 3000 days. “Let Omar Abdullah listen, the Modi Government will not allow terrorism to enter the beautiful hills of Jammu and Kashmir.
Farooq should account for 35 years of spreading terror in J&K and giving weapons in the hands of children,” he said. Asserting that Pakistan, Congress and NC have the same agenda, the Home Minister said only recently Pakistan Defence Minister (Khwaja Asif) said they are with Congress and NC on the agenda for restoration of Article 370. “Rahul Gandhi (Congress leader and LOP) should be ashamed of this.
Instead, he has come here asking for votes. I want to tell Abdullah family that come what may, Article 370 will never return. Like Article 370, terrorism, too has been buried and can never return how much they try.
The NC candidates threaten people by saying that they will face consequences. But I ask the people not to be afraid because the people who are threatening will face consequences,” the Home Minister declared. He said the NC has announced that they will legitimize a separate flag for Jammu and Kashmir, restore Article 370, start talks with Pakistan and resume LoC trade besides releasing people accused of terrorism and stone-pelting.
They want to rename the Shankaracharya hill as Takht-e-Sulaiman. Rahul Gandhi has to clarify whether he agrees with this NC agenda, he said, adding even if he doesn’t clarify, “I will make it clear that Article 370 will never return and there will be only one flag here and this is our beloved tricolour. “The people of the nation are proud and salute Paharis, Gujjars and Bakerwals who safeguarded the borders in 1947 and took bullets on their chest when terrorism erupted in 1990 because of the kindness of Farooq Abdullah, who fled to London to enjoy holiday”.
Shah accused the Congress, National Conference and PDP of pursuing “Pakistan’s agenda” by talking about the restoration of Article 370 and said a vote for the BJP would be a “befitting reply” to the neighbouring country. “This election is not only important for J-K but for the entire nation because this is for the first time that the polls are being held without two flags and two Constitutions post-independence,” he said, adding Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee had sacrificed his life for this. Seeking votes for the BJP, he said it would boost the morale of youth, safeguard the rights of women and reservation for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes, strengthen the future of India, and speed up the development in J&K.
Also, “the vote will be a befitting reply to Pakistan”, he said. Shah said the Centre wiped out terrorism by replacing guns and stones in the hands of youngsters with laptops and added the Government would not allow gunfire to resonate in the hills of Jammu region. “We will construct more bunkers along the borders for the safety of people.
I want to remind you of cross-border firings in the 1990s...
Is cross-border firing happening today?” Shah asked. Accusing Congress of being “anti-Dalit”, he said the party never thought of honouring B R Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna award. “Former Union Home Minister Sushil Shinde says that earlier he used to feel afraid of going to Lal Chowk.
But now I appeal to him to come to Lal Chowk with his family. No one can cause any harm. That was during Congress Government, and now it is Modi Government,” Shah said.
Highlighting various developmental works undertaken by the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir including the Akhnoor highway, Shah said the Centre has utilised over Rs 75,000 crore on developmental works in J-K over the past few years. “I want to tell you that the Abdullahs will not be able to discriminate with Jammu region,” he said. Accusing the National Conference, Congress and PDP of encouraging terrorism, Shah said this election will ensure an end to the three families rule in the Union Territory.
“It is necessary because these families never allowed the democracy to grow in J&K,” he said, adding had the BJP Government not formed in 2014 and elections to different Panchayat Raj Institutions held, the 30,000 elected Panchayat members would have never got an opportunity but instead NC and Congress would have worked to further strengthen their ‘kingdom’. The Home Minister said he is a person from Gujarat and had never thought of visiting Mendhar, which is just a few kilometres from the Line of Control. Shah said the BJP is committed for development of Jammu and Kashmir, which has suffered a lot due to terrorism over the past 35 years.
He lashed out at the National Conference, Congress and PDP for the spread of terrorism and said that money pumped into Jammu and Kashmir for the welfare of people over the years was utilized to fight the menace. “The development in J&K was hit for the last 35 years. Crores of rupees pumped into the region for the welfare of the people was utilized fighting terrorism,” he said, adding “the BJP is working for the welfare of people and Modi’s ‘dil aur jolee’ is very big and we will take Jammu and Kashmir to new heights of development, peace and prosperity”.
The senior BJP leader said over two crore tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir last year. “The number is more than the tourists, who visited J&K during the rule of Farooq Abdullah,” he added. Alleging discrimination with Poonch by the previous Governments to tap the tourism potential of the area, Shah said there is snowfall and beautiful locations in Surankote but why people only prefer Pahalgam (hill resort in south Kashmir) and nobody is visiting this place.
“We will fully tap the tourism potential of the area which is your right,” he added and said two beautify tourist cities like Pahalgam will be developed in Poonch and Rajouri. Shah said that the tribals of Rajouri and Poonch are defenders of Jammu and Kashmir and the entire country was proud of them, Seeking support of the Gujjars, Bakerwals, and Paharis for the ongoing assembly elections, Shah urged them to “cover the hills with lotuses (BJP’s poll symbol)” and end the “monarchy” of the Gandhis, Abdullahs and Muftis, who he claimed have kept the Pir Panjal region underdeveloped for the last 75 years. “People here say that the Army and security forces are protecting them.
But when you go to Gujarat, Maharashtra, or Bengal, they say that the Gujjars and Bakerwals are protecting the country here,” Shah said. Praising the tribals, he said, “Whether it was the wars of 1947, 1965, or 1971, or the fight against terrorism, the Gujjars and Bakerwals have fought bravely, taking bullets on their chests. They have been instrumental in bringing peace to Jammu and Kashmir.
The entire country looks up to them with respect.” He emphasised that since 1947, in every war with Pakistan, soldiers from Jammu and Kashmir have defended India. “When terrorism entered in the 1990s, courtesy of Farooq Abdullah, it was my Pahari, Gujjar, and Bakerwal brothers who bravely faced bullets,” he added.
He reaffirmed that Paharis were given reservations without affecting those of Gujjars, and both communities are now content. Taking a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement about his “Mohabbat Ki Dukan” (shop of love), Shah accused him of issuing “directives of terror from that very shop”. “No talks with Pakistan until they stop aiding and abetting terrorism, but we will talk with the children of my hill regions,” he said.
Shah reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir has undergone a massive transformation under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, shifting from terrorism to peace. “Due to Modi’s tireless efforts, today, around 30,000 Kashmiri youths are contesting elections at various levels, exercising their democratic rights,” Shah said..
