New Delhi: Allaying concerns over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that neither a single shot has been fired nor has anyone died there till now and asserted that there is peace in the valley.
“From August 5 till now, we did not have to fire a single shot and not even a single person has died. There is peace in Kashmir,” said he said at an event here.
Last month, Parliament had passed the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganization) Act, 2019, bifurcating the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without it.
The BJP chief said that many people had called the surgical strikes in 2016, a “fluke”,but they now “certify” the country’s defence policies after it revoked the provisions of Article 370.
“Even though surgical and airstrikes give immense joy to the people, taking such decisions needs immense courage. The airstrikes changed the way the world looks at us now,’ Shah added.
Shah also took a dig at the erstwhile Congress government and said that during their tenure, there used to be news of corruption every day, borders were insecure, soldiers were beheaded, women felt unsafe and people protested on the roads every day.
“A government was running where every minister considered himself as Prime Minister but did not look at the actual Prime Minister as one,” he scoffed.
Shah said that unlike the erstwhile government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government never took any decision for “vote bank” but rather for the benefit of the people.
“Some governments work for 30 years and take one big decision, but our government worked for five years and took over 50 major decisions, including GST, demonetisation, airstrikes, etc. No one else dared take it during their tenure,” said the Union Minister.
Shah said that India is growing economically, adding that the agriculture sector and the per capita income are also increasing. “We are progressing towards becoming a $5 trillion economy and I am confident that it will happen before 2024,” he added.