Hindustan Times (Patiala)

‘WILL DEAL WITH THREAT BOLDLY’

- HT Correspond­ent ■ letters@hindustant­imes.com

Reaffirmin­g the Centre’s commitment to national security, home minister Amit Shah said no compromise will be made on the issue of India’s territoria­l integrity.

Jammu and Kashmir has been peaceful since it was divested of its special status on August 5, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and reiterated that not a single bullet has had to be fired to ensure law and order.

Shah listed the nullificat­ion of Article 370, which conferred special status on Kashmir, and Article 35A, which reserved benefits such as government jobs and property ownership for permanent residents-among the top achievemen­ts of the government.

Reaffirmin­g the Narendra Modi government’s commitment to national security, Shah said the government will not compromise on the territoria­l integrity of India. Threats to India’s territoria­l integrity will be met with a bold and strong response, the home minister said at the 46th National Management Conven tion held by the All India Management Associatio­n (AIMA), in New Delhi.

Highlighti­ng the achievemen­ts of the National Democratic Alliance government in the past six years, the minister also took a swipe at the Congress. There was a sense of despondenc­e in the country before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, the minister said.

After nearly 70 years of independen­ce, “there was a question in the minds of the people whether the vision of the founding fathers had really been realized; whether the multi-party system had failed to fulfil the aspiration­s of the citizens of the country,” Shah said about the months immediatel­y prior to the BJP coming to power.

In the India of 2013, widespread corruption prevailed, the country’s borders were not secure and soldiers were dying every day, Shah said. The home minister claimed that every minister then considered himself the PM.

In contrast, he said the Modi government worked in an organised manner with clear targets, detailed planning and a wellthough­t-through implementa­tion strategy. The Modi government, he said, was a balanced government in which leaders take “bold decisions” and the bureaucrac­y implements them seamlessly. “From 2014 to 2019, 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...,” he said.

 ??  ?? ■ Amit Shah
■ Amit Shah

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