Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (March 21, 2025) in a sharp jibe at Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi while speaking in the Rajya Sabha on counter-terrorism operations and development in Jammu and Kashmir.
“If someone is sitting with kaala chashma [black glasses] on, how is it possible to show them the development,?” Mr. Shah asked.
Further responding to Mr. Gandhi’s remarks during his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Kashmir in 2023, Mr. Shah said, “One leader went on a foot march, went to Kashmir, played Holi with snow with his karyakartas and then claimed he saw terrorists from afar.”
“Arre bhai, nazar mein hi aatankwadi hai toh sapne mein bhi aayega aur Kashmir mein bhi” [If someone has terrorist in their mind, he will appear in your dreams as well as in Kashmir], Mr. Shah said.
Emphasising the Modi government’s zero-tolerance policy over terrorism, Mr. Shah said, “Whenever we see a terrorist, we shoot right between the eyes. Our government can neither tolerate terrorism nor terrorists.”
During his speech, Mr. Shah highlighted the significant reduction in terrorism-related deaths in Jammu and Kashmir under the Modi government.
“Earlier, terrorists from the neighbouring country used to enter Kashmir almost every day and carry out bomb blasts. There was not a single festival that passed without any worries. Even after this, the central government’s attitude was flexible. There was fear of speaking, so they remained silent, and there was fear of the vote bank,” he said.
“After the arrival of Narendra Modi, the policy of ‘zero tolerance’ was adopted against terrorism. After our arrival, when attacks took place in Uri and Pulwama, we gave a befitting reply by entering Pakistan within 10 days and carrying out surgical and air strikes,” the Union Home Minister further said.
He also outlined the steps taken by the BJP-led government to strengthen internal security and said Maoism will be eliminated from the country by March 21, 2026.
Responding to a debate on the workings of his Ministry in Rajya Sabha, Amit Shah talked of the steps taken by the government to tackle terrorism in J&K, the Maoist challenge, drug abuse, and problems in the Northeast.
He said the country would get free of the “Naxal problem” during the term of the BJP-led government.
“I say it in this House with responsibility that Naxalism in this country will be eliminated by March 21, 2026,” he said.
Amit Shah talked of the steps taken by the government to provide accurate intelligence to security forces dealing with Maosits and said he has pity on those who think Naxalism is only a political problem.
Published – March 22, 2025 06:28 am IST
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