The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
China could not occupy even an inch: Shah; Cong questions claim
STARTING HIS campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday claimed that China couldn’t encroach upon even a “single inch” of land under the Narendra Modi government, a statement swiftly countered by the Congress which accused him of giving a “clean chit” to the neighbouring country.
Shah, who was speaking in Lakhimpur, also alleged that former PM Jawaharlal Nehru said “bye-bye” to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh during the 1962 war with China.
He said :“people of these states can never forget that. But now what changed is that under the Narendra Mo di government, china could not encroach even a single inch of our land. in do kl am, we stood firm against them for 45 days and forced them to retreat.”
Responding to Shah’s statements, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said in New Delhi that every time the BJP gives a “clean chit” to China, the ruling party makes it harder for India to deal with China’s encroachment.
Ramesh said: “On June 19th, 2020, at the all-party meet on China, the prime minister declared that not a single Chinese soldier had crossed over into indian territory. The Prime Minister’ s lie was used by the Chinese all over the world to deny their encroachments into Indian territory…. Now, the only man who can give the prime minister competition in lying and falsifying facts — his Home Minister — has also given a clean chit to China.”
“These are the facts that the PM and HM are denying. China has occupied 2,000 sq km of Indian soil. China has taken over 26 out of 65 patrolling points in Ladakh. China has built complete villages 50-60 km deep inside Arunachal Pradesh, a fact confirmed by satellite imagery and raised by BJP MP Tapir Gao on the floor of the Lok Sabha,” the Congress leader alleged.
Shah, meanwhile, also accused the Congress of perpetrating injustices in Assam: “A few days back,i heard rahul ba ba talkingabout the need to save the culture of Ass am… I want to ask him ‘what did you do with Assam?’ Since your grandmother’ s( ind ira Gandhi) time, there has been injustice against Assam. Thousands of youths walked on the path of violence… thousands were killed. that isa sin of the Congress party. Narendra Modi executed more than 10 peace settlements and made Assam peaceful. 9,000 youths surrendered and have now joined the mainstream,” he said.
He also claimed that the BJP has stopped “infiltration” from across the Bangladesh border.
He attacked the party’s manifesto, alleging that it has promised to “establish Muslim personal law” if elected to power. “And here, our CM has restricted child marriages. We have brought in the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand,” he said.
Shah was campaigning for Lakhimpur candidate Pradan Baruah, who will face Congress’s Uday Shankar Hazarika. Later in the evening, he took out a road show in Tinsukia, which is part of the Dibrugarh constituency.