Full text of Amit Shah’s speech in parliament, laying out classic RSS/BJP view on Kashmir

Amit Shah blames Congress for ruining Jammu and Kashmir, but adds that Modi government will keep 'Kashmiriyat' alive.

Amit Shah speaking in the Lok Sabha | PTI

Many members have raised questions on the security of Jammu and Kashmir, on terrorism and security of the country. I want to tell people that (the) Narendra Modi government has adopted zero tolerance policy towards terrorism and that will continue.

Our government is committed to weeding out terrorism from its roots and I am sure that we will be able to do it with the help of people. People are saying that this fight should be beyond ideologies but our ideology itself is committed to the motherland, we do not need to rise above it. The ideology of my party tells me that my topmost priority should be the safety and security of my country. After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister and Rajnath Singh became the Home Minister in 2014, the government has given topmost priority to Jammu and Kashmir and peace in the state and fight terrorism in the state. The zero tolerance policy is not in the political rallies or parliament only but we have taken concrete steps to make sure change is seen on the ground as well.

CRPF men work all over the country, maintain law and order situation, work in naxal areas and other areas but in Jammu and Kashmir there is a different situation, the terrorism there is Pakistan-sponsored, therefore there was a special kind of demand for men who are posted there. There demand included high security vehicle, modern guns, commando training centers and other things. I am pleased to tell the Parliament that we have spent Rs 7 crore and agreed to all their requirements. The CRPF DG has told me that this is the first time in the history after independence that all their requirements have been met by the government.

There was an issue of coordination because a number of agencies work from the state including — Army, IB, R&AW, CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir police and other agencies. Multi-disciplinary monitoring group has been formed in the state, so that all the agencies can work in coordination and work in tandem. Presidential rule came to the state and people were talking about killing the democracy, but I want to tell the Parliament that out of 132 times that the President rule was implemented, Congress government went for President rule 93 times and they will tell us what to do? There is a reason that we went for President rule. Congress used it for their own political gains.

Why did the Congress never put a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami, who did they want to please? it was the Narendra Modi government that finally put a ban on it. Who was JKLF trying to liberate all these years? J&K is an integral part of India, this is what we believe in. We put a ban on it. The kind of action in form of preventive arrest that we have taken against separatist groups has never happened under any other government.

 

There were training camps in jails in Kashmir, people were taught how to use AK-47, we improved the security inside jails and those who want to indulge in any such activities are now realising that they cannot do this under the BJP government.

In J&K, people who say anti-national things are being given security on the the taxpayers money. This was never reviewed under the previous government, we reviewed this and out of the 2,000 people who were being given security cover because of anti-national activity, for 919 people security cover has been revoked. There were Pakistani channels that mislead the youth of Kashmiri youth, all such channels have been banned from India.

However, I do not believe that only BJP fought against terrorism, all parties fought against it but there is a difference in how they fought and how we are fighting it. Earlier, men would cross the border, indoctrinate the locals and fight with security forces, that ways we would lose our men and our local boys as well. We were only fighting on our soil till the time Narendra Modi was chosen as the Prime Minister. After him, we are not only fighting on our land but also crossing the border and attacking the enemy in its land.

Our surgical strike was questioned, but I want to set the record straight, it was an attack on self-defence and India has a right to it. No civilian causality was caused in any of our surgical strikes, only terrorists were killed.

After Pulwama everyone was worried, but Narendra Modi government’s commitment was as it is, we carried out an air strike and killed terrorists after entering Pakistan. No one says that is a fluke, now the world agrees that India has a strategy for its security.

Talking about history, we still maintain that India should not have been divided on the basis of religion, but it was not our fault. One third of the Kashmir is not with us, who is the reason for it? Who announced ceasefire when Pakistan encroached in Kashmir after independence and occupied one-third of its territory. (Then Prime Minister) Jawaharlal Nehru announced ceasefire and Pakistan took away that part of Kashmir. Nehru did not take the then Home Minister Sardar Patel into confidence. If he would have taken Patel into confidence before announcing ceasefire, then Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) would not have formed and terrorism would not have existed in Kashmir.

The problems that happened in Jammu and Kashmir happened in Hyderabad and Junagarh as well but the latter were being tackled by Sardar Patel but who was handling J&K? Because of one mistake, India is suffering from terrorism.

I partially agree that there is lack of trust between the people of J&K and rest of India, it is because there was no effort to build that trust. In 1953 when Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was protesting two governments and two Prime Ministers, he was put in jail where he died, but his death was never investigated. He was the leader of opposition. If Bengal exists it is because of him.

If there are no elections, there will be doubts in the mind of people. When they conducted elections at various times they were unsuccessful because it was a fake election where people were not involved. During previous times, elections were conducted in 1957, 1962 and 1967, all those elections were farce and they sowed the seeds of mistrust towards democracy in the minds of people.

When Abdul Khaliq was the district magistrate of Srinagar and half the valley was under it, that time there were two MLAs, half were chosen by the public and half by Khaliq, this democracy was killed by people like Khaliq.

Whenever there will be elections in Jammu and Kashmir it will be completely democratic and the central government will not have any say it it. Any party can contest elections these days, because there is no rigging under under the BJP government. We let the Election Commission function independently.

There are doubts in the mind of people because of the Congress party and not because of us.

Governance was destroyed in Kashmir by the Congress government and people of J&K stopped believing in us and our efforts to fight terrorism went down the drain. There was a time when there was no sign of India in the valley, people wanted to dissociate themselves from the country’s name. It was Narendra Modi and Murli Manohar Joshi who risked their lives, went to Lal Chowk and unfurled the national flag there. We were not in power at that time. People who are against India should be scared. We are not a part of the ‘tukde tukde‘ gang, who want to disintegrate the country, people of Jammu and Kashmir should not be scared.

We have done a lot for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, youth have got jobs, children are getting midday meals, widows are getting the benefits that they are entitled for, senior citizens are getting old age pension, the Prime Minister’s card through which they can get medicines worth Rs 5 lakh. We are not trying to alienate the people of Jammu and Kashmir, they are our brothers and sisters, we want to embrace them.

So far, only three families were running the entire government in Kashmir. Now, 40,000 people are appointed as Panch and Sarpanch in various villages in Kashmir, we have given power to the people, instead of taking it away from them.

There were many elections in the past which saw a lot of bloodbath, but under our government there have been many elections so far which went without any violence in the state. It is our topmost priority to gain the confidence of people of J&K, even if we need to give them more, we will do it because they have gone through a lot.

When we say that we want development in J&K, it is not just a speech. In 2015, PM announced the first and biggest special package for the people of J&K. It covers all the regions including Leh, Jammu, Valley and the hills, it includes all the people of the state.

With this package there are 63 big development projects, 16 major roads, 8 power projects, 2 AIIMS, 2 IIMs, 1 IIT. There have been many announcements of packages… I went to review one such project which was claimed to be a bridge whose foundation was laid 32 years ago but in reality there are only 2 pillars constructed but no bridge in sight but the Narendra Modi government has given a new work culture where if a project’s foundation stone is laid then the project is executed in time.

Almost 82 per cent funds have been allotted, about 44 per cent of tenders have been issued and so far 16 projects have been inaugurated by the PM and the HM.

According to records 45 per cent of land of J&K comes under the Ladakh region but conducting elections in regional units has not been possible so far as they are scattered across the region. But we’ve created Hill Councils and begun the process of elections like village panchayats hence fulfilling their right to development and this is the first time after independence that people of Ladakh feel that through Hill Councils they have control of their allocated budget.

People in Ladakh expressed that they were inexperienced administratively hence we decided the budget allocated to the Hill Councils will be cumulative and will not lapse at the end of fiscal year.

Srinagar-Leh transmission line has been completed, the foundation has been laid for a solar power plant in Kargil, 2 new degree colleges have been opened in Ladakh, 5 new tourist circuits and 5 new trekking paths have been created and so far 170 trekking groups have already used these paths which is an achievement for Leh-Ladakh.

We’ve also taken steps for Kashmiri Pandits who were evicted from J&K, we’ve increased the relief pay in 2015 from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000. In 2018 it was increased to Rs 13,000 and this money reaches straight to the claimants’ accounts through direct benefit transfer. J&K govt has reserved 3,000 posts in the govt for Kashmiri Pandits for which the recruitment process has begun and 600 posts have been filled so far.

Mr. (Asaduddin) Owaisi was asking me what this govt had done for the Pandits, I hope he’s listening to me. We’ve built 6,000 transit centres for the Pandits in the valley. Now people who were evicted from Jammu too will get relief pay. The govt has awarded Rs 5.5 lakh to people who were evicted from PoK and Chhambh sector and I’m happy to announce that so far Rs 1,100 crore have been transferred to the accounts of 26,900 people, something that hasn’t happened for 70 years. This is why people don’t trust governments, people doubt governments.

Refugees from West Pakistan are also being given an aid of Rs 5 lakh.

We have sanctioned up to Rs 5 lakh for people who are injured in cross-border firing, up to Rs 50,000 for the loss of cattle, in Poonch, Rajouri and (in) other districts we started the construction of 15,000 bunkers. 44,000 bunkers have already been constructed. We have sanctioned the position for two border battalions, 2000 new special police forces, there induction and training is already on. We have given 7 per cent reservation for people at the border.

41,000 new posts have been created in the state under Himayat, Udaan and PMKY schemes. 2.75 lakh youth are being trained, more than 18,000 people are being given PM scholarship. Youth are being taken all across the country and made to feel that they belong to the country.

The peace loving people of Kashmir are not scared any more, they are happy that after 70 years, the state is finally free from the clutches of three families. People who want to disintegrate the country are the ones who are under fear.

‘Insaniyat, jamhuriyat and Kashmiriyat‘ is still working in the state. We will not let Kashmiriyat be diluted.

Kashmiriyat does not mean shedding blood, it means staying with India, protecting the culture of India and Kashmir. Who built Kashmir? Where are those people who built Kashmir and stand for Kashmiriyat? We will protect Kashmiri culture.

The number of ordinances that have been brought under our government has not happened in any government before. The day the Election Commission agrees for an election, our government will not even think twice.

Article 370 is not permanent, we have not changed our stand on it. Both the bills that I am presenting today is for the welfare of Jammu and Kashmir.

Whenever the Election Commission says, we will conduct elections in the state. We want to restore peace in the state.