In a poll campaign at West Bengal’s Howrah, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is committed to taking back Pakistan-Occupied Jammu Kashmir and will not be deterred by Pakistan.
“Isn’t Pak-occupied Kashmir ours? Mani Shankar Aiyar and Farooq Abdullah used to scare us by saying that Pakistan has an atom bomb so we should not speak about Pak-occupied Kashmir. Rahul baba, Mamata didi, no matter how scared you are, Pak-occupied Kashmir is ours and we will take it back,” Shah said on Wednesday.
Contrasting the difference between the Indian side of Kashmir and the Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir, Shah said, “Earlier people used to stage protests in our part of Kashmir. Now under PM Modi’s influence, there are no hartals observed in the Indian part of Kashmir, but in Pak-occupied Kashmir. Earlier slogans demanding independence were shouted here. Now they are shouted in Pak-occupied Kashmir. Earlier stones were pelted here, now they are pelted there.”
On the increase in tourism activity in the Union Territory, the Home Minister said, “Two crore tourists came to Kashmir and created a new record and Pak-occupied Kashmir created a record in rate of selling wheat to the people.”
Speaking about the abrogation of Article 370, Shah said, “Mamata didi, Congress, the syndicate used to ask us not to remove Article 370. When I asked them in Parliament they said that rivers of blood will flow. This is PM Modi’s government. After five years, let alone rivers of blood no one even dared to light a fire.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi abrogated Article 370 and integrated Kashmir into the rest of India,” he added.
Violent protests and a shutter-down strike were observed in Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) for 4 days, which came to a halt following Islamabad’s announcement of an immediate grant of PKR 23 billion to address demands for fair electricity pricing and subsidised wheat flour.
On Monday, PM Shehbaz announced a Rs 23 billion subsidy package for the AJK during a high-level meeting convened about the turmoil in the valley. The price of wheat flour had been reduced by PKR 1100 per 40 kg bag, from PKR 3100 to PKR 2000. The protests left at least three people dead and several others injured.
