New Delhi, Aug 9: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that the terror related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have been reduced by 68 percent due to the effective steps taken by the Modi government.
Participating in the debate of 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.
The Home Minister completely rejected the talks with separatist organisations in Kashmir valley, and added “We won’t engage in discussions with Hurriyat, Jamiat, or Pakistan. If there are discussions, they will be held with the youth of the valley”.
About Article 370, he said that it was the due to the wrong policy of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
“PM Modi took a historic decision to completely merge J&K with India,” Shah said.
The Minister said, “Processions of terrorists are no longer carried out in Kashmir, because they are buried at the same place where they are neutralised”.
National Conference President and MP Lok Sabha Farooq Abdullah said that, “The Prime Minister Modi doesn’t represent only one colour, he represents the entire country.”
Abdullah said that, “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 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 the 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 the part of India …don’t say we are Pakistani”.
Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani racked up the issue of Article 370 and 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.