New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah ruled out holding talks with Pakistan and vowed to wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing a massive rally in Baramullah, Amit Shah said terrorism in J&K has claimed 42,000 lives since the 1990s.
“Those who ruled for 70 years are saying talk to Pakistan. Why should we talk to Pakistan? We will not talk. We will talk to the people of Baramulla, we will talk to the people of Kashmir,” Amit Shah said.
“We want to make Jammu and Kashmir the most peaceful place in the country,” he added.
The Union minister also tore into the families of the Abdullahs (National Conference), Muftis (PDP) and Nehru-Gandhi (Congress) for the alleged underdevelopment of Jammu and Kashmir as they ruled the erstwhile state most of the time since the country’s independence in 1947.
“Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah built four medical colleges. We have built nine since 2014. We have built one lakh houses since 2014. We have ensured, in the last three years, that all villages in Kashmir (including villages in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) have electricity connection,” Amit Shah said.
A day earlier, Home Minister Amit Shah declared in Rajouri that the Pahari community would soon get reservations in education and jobs as Scheduled Tribe (ST). In Baramullah, Amit Shah said the reservation was not possible earlier due to Article 370.
On elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Union minister said as soon as the work of compiling the voters’ list is completed, elections will be held with full transparency.
