‘Stone pelting zero, development taking place in J&K’
GUWAHATI, Feb 21:
Asserting that if India can be free of Naxals, it can also be free of infiltrators, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that the illegal immigrants would be removed not only from the electoral rolls but also from the country in the next five years.
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Shah was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for a new campus of the Assam Police 10th Battalion, which he said would be constructed on land freed from encroachments by infiltrators.
Attacking Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Shah said that the Congress leader had once said that infiltrators would be removed, but the “Congress can’t do so as illegal immigrants are its votebank”.
“It is not enough to just evict infiltrators from encroached lands, they must also be sent out of India,” he said.
The Election Commission is conducting a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and it is obvious that the infiltrators will be identified, but “Rahul Gandhi is protesting against the exercise, and hurling bomb after bomb but these do not make sounds of even firecrackers”.
While SIR is underway in several other states, Special Revision (SR) is being conducted in Assam.
Shah said the new campus of the battalion will be developed on land freed from encroachments by infiltrators.
“It is, however, not enough to evict the infiltrators from encroached land as they will go and settle somewhere else… They must be removed from the country,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi had once said infiltrators would be removed but Congress can’t do so as illegal immigrants are its votebank,” he alleged.
The Home Minister also alleged that the Congress’ policy of protecting infiltrators has threatened Assam’s ‘jati’ (people), ‘mati’ (land) and ‘bheti’ (foundation).
“If the Congress is committed to getting rid of infiltrators, I challenge Rahul Gandhi to mention it in its manifesto,” he said.
He accused the Congress of encouraging infiltration, bringing the “state’s demography to a crisis point”.
“I want to ask: Who is responsible for Dhubri, Barpeta, Darrang, Morigaon, Bongaigaon, Nagaon and Goalpara becoming Muslim-dominated districts? It is the Congress,” he said.
“The BJP will make Assam free from the sin committed by the Congress of encouraging infiltration,” he said.
The Assam Government led by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has freed over 1 lakh bighas of land from encroachments by infiltrators, Shah said, adding that the CM has said that another 5 lakh bighas will be cleared over the next five years, if the BJP is voted to power.
“I know him (Sarma) well… He keeps his promises but will this solve Assam’s problems? No, it will not as the infiltrators will go to some other place in the country,” Shah said.
He said if voted to power again, the BJP will “find each and every infiltrator and send them out of the country”.
“This is possible… When a major part of the country can be free of Naxals, the nation can also be free of infiltrators. To make this happen, one would need willpower, courage and determination. Our PM has all these,” he added.
“The Congress, which had brought in the infiltrators, will never allow them to leave if they come to power,” Shah said, adding, “if we want to send the illegal immigrants out of the country, the BJP must retain power in the state”.
“The infiltrators had not spared even the birthplace of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva but the State Government cleared the land of encroachments and I recently inaugurated a renovated complex there,” he said.
Shah said Assam will become the industrial hub of eastern and northeastern India in the next five years.
Noting that infiltrators pose a threat to the national security, Shah said, “I am happy that the threat has been neutralised and a campus for those who will protect the country will come up in an area where the Congress had encouraged illegal immigrants to settle.”
The Home Minister said it is precisely because of this dedication to duty and the sacrifices made that the CRPF jawans have protected the country on numerous occasions.
“Eleven-twelve years ago, the country had three major hotspots — Jammu and Kashmir, Left-Wing Extremism-affected areas and the northeast — which had become sores for internal security. Today, success has been achieved in establishing peace at all three places,” he said.
Shah said bomb blasts, bullets, bandhs, blockades and destruction were once prominent at these three hotspots but now, all three regions have become engines of growth, driving the development of the entire country forward.
He asserted that without the sacrifices made by the CRPF personnel, it would have been impossible to bring these three hotspots onto the path of development.
Shah pointed out that the CRPF’s journey began in 1939 with just two battalions and today, with 248 battalions and a strength of 3.25 lakh personnel, it has become the world’s largest CAPF.
He said even when 78 police personnel in Kolkata were killed in an attack by Left-wing extremists, the CRPF continued to hold the front with courage.
The Home Minister noted that the force also foiled a terrorist attack on Parliament and thwarted an attack on the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi in 2005.
After the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, not a single bullet had to be fired in Jammu and Kashmir and the CRPF played a very significant role in ensuring this, he said.
Shah added that the number of stone-pelting incidents has come down to zero in Jammu and Kashmir, industries are coming in and development is taking place, thanks to major contributions from the CRPF, BSF and especially, the Jammu and Kashmir Police.
He also said the CRPF played a big role in establishing peace in the north-eastern states.
The Home Minister said whether it is the Amarnath Yatra or the Maha Kumbh, the force has played a major role in ensuring the safety and success of the country’s cultural events as well.
He noted that 700 CRPF personnel were killed in the northeast, 780 in Naxal areas and 540 in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Without these sacrifices, it would have been impossible to take these three hotspots on the path of development today. If I talk about Assam, 79 jawans have done their best to establish peace in Assam,” Shah said.
The first battalion of the force was raised in 1939 as the Crown Representative’s Police (CRP) under the British rule.
Post Independence, in 1949, it was re-christened as the Central Reserve Police Force under the Indian Union by the first home minister, Vallabhbhai Patel. (PTI)
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