E-Paper
Will rather talk to people of Kashmir than Pakistan: Amit Shah
Taking a swipe at the Mufti and Abdullah families without naming them, Amit Shah said that the three families which had ruled J&K for 70 years would never understand the pain of an elderly father who is forced to lift the coffin of his young son.
The government of India would rather talk to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir than Pakistan, home minister Amit Shah declared on Monday, adding that a new era of development has begun in the Union Territory under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Farooq sahib has given some advice to the Union government – to talk to Pakistan. I want to tell Farooq sahib, who has been a former chief minister of J&K, that we will talk to the people of Kashmir. I will talk to the youth of Kashmir Valley,” Shah said, referring to Farooq Abdullah, leader of the National Conference party.
“Why should we not talk to you?” Shah asked a gathering of delegates and representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar on the last day of his three-day visit to the troubled region, his first since the central government in August 2019 repealed Article 370 of the Constitution that conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
“With a firm belief, I want to convey to you that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a new era of development has begun in J&K and complete results of this development will be visible by 2024,” the home minister said, adding that he has spoken directly with the people of Kashmir, without bulletproof vests and additional security, to emphasise the progress and development in the newly formed Union Territory.
Shah also said he was being asked why curfew was imposed and internet snapped on August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was done away with and the state was bifurcated into the Union territories of J&K and Ladakh.
“By saying this, they want to misguide the youth of Kashmir Valley,” Shah said. “If internet was not stopped and curfew not imposed in J&K, then there would have been bloodshed and the youth of Kashmir would have been killed. We did not want people to be killed.”
Shah said three families that ruled J&K for 70 years would never understand the pain of an elderly father who is forced to lift the coffin of his young son, referring to prominent political families without naming them.
“Nearly 40,000 people were killed during their rule, but till date they have not condemned terrorism that is taking place in the Valley,” the home minister said. “We will not allow anybody to disturb peace here.”
On the issue of land being taken away, the home minister said that after the abrogation of Article 370, many people said land belonging to the local people would be taken away. “Panchayat (village council) members are here, sarpanches (village chiefs) are here. Go and ask people in your villages how much land has been taken away from them in the last two years,” Shah said.
Shah praised J&K’s Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, saying that he has provided jobs to more than 20,000 people. “Today also, six thousand people are being given jobs. Now, the corruption that the three families indulged in is a thing of the past,” the home minister said.
He appealed to the youth to not be swayed by rumours. “I want to convey to the youth of Kashmir that those who handed stones and weapons to you, please tell them that there is electricity and hospitals in Kashmir,” Shah said. “Are there medical colleges and is potable water available over there? There is nothing,” he said, referring to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The three political families did not let ordinary people become panchayat members and sarpanches in the past 70 years, the home minister said. “Today 30,000 people got elected as the representatives of the people of Kashmir. I want to tell the youth of Kashmir that you can become a member of Parliament, or minister in the Indian government and can also dream of becoming the chief minister of J&K, and now nobody can stop you. The people of Kashmir have the same rights which I enjoy in our country.”
Shah promised that not a single person in J&K will remain homeless by the end of next year. “In J&K, 20,000 have already got homes. By the end of 2022, nobody will be without a home in J&K,” he said. “We want them (the youth) to hold pens. They shouldn’t hold weapons but tools to assemble machines.”
In a veiled attack on the Congress, the National Conference and the Peoples’ Democratic Party, Shah said while only three medical colleges were set up by the “three families which have ruled Jammu and Kashmir”, Prime Minister Modi has ensured seven new medical colleges will soon be established.
“Earlier, 500 youths could become doctors. Now 2,000 youths can become doctors from these new medical colleges. Nobody will need to go to Pakistan to study medicine,” he said.
The home minister inaugurated a 500-bed hospital at Bemina in Srinagar that was completed at a cost of ₹115 crore, laid the foundation stone for the Handwara Medical College, a ₹46-crore bridge over the Ferozepur Nallah in Baramulla district and road projects worth ₹4,000 crore, among others.
Earlier in the day, Shah visited Kher Bhawani temple in Ganderbal and met delegates of a few Sufi organisations.
Reacting to Shah’s attack on the Abdullah family, National Conference spokesperson Imran Dar said, “Farooq Abdullah and later Omar Abdullah became chief ministers only because people voted them to power. They were not coronated to power. Besides, National Conference has been in power for only 23 years, out of which half was in alliance. Bharatiya Janata Party has every agency at their disposal. If there is anything (wrong done by the National Conference), why don’t they bring to fore? This is all rhetoric with no factual support.”
