Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 17 said the Narendra Modi government will not tolerate any breach of India’s territory and is ready to deal with any such acts strongly.
Mr. Shah also asserted that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has been peaceful ever since the special status given to the state under Article 370 was abrogated on August 5 and added that not a single bullet has been fired nor has anyone died since then. “There will be no compromise on India’s security. We will not tolerate even an inch of breach of our territory. We will deal with it strongly. We will not allow any drop of blood of our soldiers go in vain,” he said addressing an event of the All India Management Association in New Delhi.
Referring to the scrapping of the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Shah said the decision was a significant step towards the motto of “Akhand Bharat”.
Coming down heavily on the Congress-led UPA regime for not adopting a comprehensive national security policy, the Home Minister said the country’s strategic policy was “eaten up” by the foreign policy.
“After the surgical strike and the air strike, the perception of the world has changed and India’s strength has been recognised globally,” he said.
The Home Minister said before the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, there were chaos everywhere, there was no security at borders and people had doubts about the multi-party democracy system and wondered whether India’s multi-party democracy had failed.
“If you remember, there was deep disappointment everywhere in 2013. Every Minister had considered himself as the Prime Minister, while no one considered the Prime Minister as Prime Minister,” he said.
Mr. Shah said with the “historic mandate” in 2014, the era of coalition government that had been going on for 30 years came to an end and for the first time, a non-Congress party got an absolute majority.
“From 2014 to 2019, the people have seen a decisive government. Normally, five big decisions are taken in 30 years. But in the first five years of the Modi government, 50 major decisions were taken... the GST, demonetisation, surgical strike, air strike, One Rank One Pension.. and now Article 370 and Article 35A. These were brave decisions,” he said.
The Home Minister said the Modi government never takes any decision to appease anyone but for the welfare of the people. “Because of the good governance, eight countries have given highest civilian awards to the Prime Minister,” he said. “It is a sensitive and non-corrupt government. It built toilets and brought reforms too.”
Talking about the reform initiatives taken by the government, Mr. Shah said there may be some initial problems but such difficulties will be over soon and asked the industries to face it as it brings overall good for everyone. “There were some teething problems in the GST. But tell me in which big decision there is no teething problems? But we have been able to collect over ₹1 lakh crore (in a single month) on many occasions. There may be a need to take a few corrective steps,” he said. “You have to undergo little difficulties initially but at the end reforms brings the larger good,” he added.
Mr. Shah also highlighted the development initiatives taken by the government such as road construction, new rail lines, gas connection, electrification, toilets, bank accounts etc. “By 2022, every family will have a house with a gas connection, power connection, toilet and bank account. We are giving people the right to live with dignity,” he said.
Referring to the “decisive decisions” of the Modi government, Mr. Shah said everyone takes pride in the air strike but it is not an easy decision as various factors come into consideration before such a “brave decision” is taken.
“Will it lead to a war? If war breaks out what will happen? But surgical strike and the (Balakot) air strike changed the perception about India in the world,” he said.
