‘Discernible change visible everywhere’
Avtar Bhat
JAMMU, Mar 30: Terming the annulling of Articles 370 and 35- a great achievement of Narendra Modi led Government, Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Anurag Thakur today said Modi freed Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of controversial Articles, terrorism and separatism which were a great barrier in its progress and development.
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Thakur, while addressing a rally in support of BJP candidate Jugal Kishore, who submitted his nomination papers from the Jammu Lok Sabha seat after a massive road show here, said all has changed during last 10 years in J&K which was under the grip of terrorism with the bold and historical decisions of Modi Government.
He said the UT got complete rid of stone pelting, bandhs and violence after annulling of Article 370 and there is no violence and stone pelting anywhere while peace and normalcy has been restored now.
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The Union Minister said earlier the tricolor was not given the due respect in J&K but now it is unfurled with full respect at Lal Chowk, Srinagar and other areas of Kashmir Valley. He recalled that how earlier BJP leaders right from Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, Narendra Modi and he as the then BJYM national president had to struggle for unfurling the national tricolour at Srinagar.
“The situation has totally changed in Kashmir and the discernible change is also visible everywhere in Valley now with record number of tourists visiting Valley last year and G20 Summit has also been organised successfully in Kashmir which is a great achievement of this Government”, he added.
“Today, people are feeling safe and secure in J&K and they carry out day to day activities without fear. The UT has also witnessed massive development and many welfare schemes and projects were implemented in J&K which have changed the lives of poor , needy, women, farmers, youth and other sections of the society,” Thakur added.
He said Prime Minister Modi-led Government provided new wings of development to Jammu and Kashmir over the past 10 years besides showing that it cannot stay silent on Pakistan-sponsored terror attacks like the previous regime by conducting surgical strikes across the border.
“Someone travelling with me asked what Jammu and Kashmir has got under Modi? Jammu and Kashmir got freedom from Article 370, stone-pelting, terrorism and separatism while developmental activities got new wings,” the Minister said addressing a public gathering after the road show along Residency Road here.
Talking to reporters later after his public address, Thakur said that Jammu and Kashmir recorded a decline of 75 per cent in terror attacks, 81 per cent in killing of civilians and 50 per cent drop in security personnel casualties under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
“It all became possible when there was a strong Government at the Centre,” he said, asking people to vote for BJP candidates — Jugal Kishore — and Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh (Udhampur Parliamentary constituency) — for the third term.
Amid chants of ‘Ab Ki Baar 400 Paar’ and slogans in favour of Prime Minister, Modi and the BJP, Thakur later accompanied Kishore to the office of the Returning Officer for the Jammu Lok Sabha seat where the latter filed his nomination papers.
Kishore had won the Jammu Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and 2019 general elections but this time the Parliamentary elections are happening for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir after the erstwhile State was bifurcated into two Union Territories and its special status under Article 370 revoked in August 2019.
“The previous Governments would have done nothing but our Government went across and carried out the surgical strikes to pin them down there,” he said, referring to the surgical strikes in response to the killing of 18 soldiers in the Uri terror attack in September 2016 and aerial strikes by the IAF deep inside Pakistan following a terror attack on a CRPF convoy that killed 40 jawans in February 2019.
The Minister said the Centre ensured flowing of ‘Vikas ki Ganga’ across Jammu and Kashmir where the work on the railway line and new highways is going on very fast besides setting up of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and various other prestigious institutes like the IIM and IIT, new projects which will ensure massive employment generation and large scale investment which is in the pipeline.
Earlier, he said the travel between Jammu and Srinagar used to consume 15 hours but now the travel time has reduced to four to five hours, while the world highest Railway bridge ‘Chenab bridge’ along Udhampur-Baramulla-Srinagar Railway Line (USBRL) has been completed as the country is inching closer to connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari through railway network.
The Katra-Delhi Expressway, which was never thought of by the Congress over the past six decades of its rule, is being built to facilitate the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims, he said, highlighting various achievements of the Government in space and other fields over the past 10 years.
Thakur said when Prime Minister Modi took over in 2014, the country’s economy was in shambles but his hard work ensured India’s economy jumping to the fifth spot in the globe and the BJP Government is eyeing to take it further up and to the third position during the next five years.
“During India’s G20 presidency, Modi made a push for a new economic corridor which will connect India with Europe. This will also facilitate goods from Jammu to reach Europe,” he said.
Targeting the Congress, the Minister said big scams like 2G and fodder scam came to light before 2014 but after Modi took over, he showed how a clean Government is run with the same officials.
Defending the issuance of fresh notices by the I-T Department to the Congress, Anurag Thakur lashed out at the party for its “arrogance” and said the party is not above law.
Thakur claimed the Congress changed its name from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to hide its corruption.
“Congress is still arrogant due to its six- decade rule. If other political parties are honouring IT laws, why not Congress,? he asked.
“Should there be a separate law for the party? Is the Congress not violating the laws? If they had tax exemptions, they just had to file their returns but they failed to do it. And secondly, they have received huge cash donations but they have not declared information related to it,” the Minister said.
He said the Congress moved the appellate authority and also knocked the doors of the courts but “they did not get any relief, which means that they were wrong and violated the rule of law.”
“Congress has only changed its robes and by replacing the UPA with ‘INDI alliance’ (opposition INDIA bloc), which has not proved fruitful anywhere, … to hide its corruption, they have made the change but people know the corrupt and they know it is ‘Thagbandhan’,” the Minister said.
The Congress’ corruption was evident from the recovery of Rs 350 crore from the house of its leader (MP Dhiraj Sahu last year), he said.
He also accused Congress of “playing politics” over the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, saying that while it raised the issue of liquor scam initially but when AAP leaders, including former Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested along with “staunch corrupt” Kejriwal, Congress stood with the AAP.
On the death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, the Minister said there is no sin in ordering a judicial probe but “the truth is that he was a don and his death had put an end to his mafia era.”
“What was the reason for his staying in jail for so long? He was a gangster and was involved in grave criminal activities like murder,” he said.
On alleged criticism of films like ‘Kashmir Files’ and Article 370, he asked why Congress rejects the atrocities faced by the Kashmiri Pandits.
“The Congress is not accepting the reality. A majority of people did not know the truth but the screening of these movies has made it possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jugal Kishore while asking people to extend their support to him said the country, including Jammu and Kashmir, is “moving fast on the development path” under Prime Minister Modi.
“Modi restored honour of the country, took historic decisions which were pending for decades,” he added.
Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina and other senior party leaders, including former ministers and legislators, also attended the road show and then addressed the public meeting, seeking vote for Kishore.
Later Anurag Thakur offered prayers at the holy shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district, officials said.
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