Union home minister Amit Shah said the “time of injustice to residents of Jammu is over now”, while pointing out that the region has borne the “brunt of discrimination” for years together. Addressing his maiden public rally in Jammu after the revocation of Article 370 in 2019, the home minister said the Centre wanted to wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that no civilian gets killed.
“Now, no one can commit injustice on you. Development of Jammu and Kashmir will take place together now with the rest of India and both (the regions) will make an effort to take the nation forward,” said Shah. Without naming the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party or the Congress, Shah told residents of the Jammu region that the “discriminatory approach” towards them came to an end with the end of “dadagiri” of “three ruling dynasties”. “Their dadagiri will no longer work in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
Asserting that a new phase of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started in J&K while attempts are being made by inimical elements to create a hurdle, Shah said, “I have come here to assure you that nobody will be able to disrupt peace and development.”
Won't allow disruption of peace
During the second leg of his three-day visit, Shah said, “It's the land of temples of Mata Vaishno Devi, of Prem Nath Dogra, the land of sacrifice of Syama Prasad Mukherjee. We won't allow disruption of peace in Jammu and Kashmir. Those trying to disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir will not be spared. We want to create an atmosphere where no civilian and innocent gets killed.”
In a reference to the targeted killings of 11 civilians in recent weeks in Kashmir, he said some people were raising questions about the prevailing security situation. “I want to answer them with facts and figures,” he said, while pointing out that between 2004 and 2014 (when UPA was in power at Centre), 2,081 people lost their lives to terrorism in J&K, with an average of 208 people being killed every year. In comparison, 239 people lost their lives between 2014 and September 2021. “But, we are not satisfied as we want to build a situation where nobody has to lose one’s life and terrorism comes to an end,” he said.
“I have come with an account of what we had announced and what we did after revocation of Article 370 and how many developmental and welfare schemes were introduced and implemented on ground,” he said. He referred to projects worth millions that had not been cleared “because of non-payment of the commission” by the executing agencies to a few political leaders before PM Modi took over at the Centre.
Home minister asked officials during a security review in Srinagar about the targeted killings of minority community members and migrant labourers despite the heavy security arrangements in the Kashmir valley, official sources said. The killings have spread fear among them and have led to an exodus of migrant labour back to Bihar.
The security review meeting at Raj Bhavan lasted nearly five hours and was attended by top security officials, including the intelligence chief, BSF chief, CRPF D-G, J&K police chief. Shah also received a detailed briefing about the recent killings, radicalisation, recruitment and infiltration, and about anti-militancy operations.
