“Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) is part of India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah emphasised on Wednesday. He pointed out that across the border in POK, people were calling for freedom.
“If Mamata Didi and Rahul Gandhi are afraid of Pakistan let them be so. But I declare that PoK belongs to India, and we will take it back,” he said, addressing an election rally at Sreerampore in Hooghly district.
The Home Minister said that the leaders of the Congress and Trinamool Congress did not support abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and said that “it will lead to bloodshed in the Valley.”
Valley is quiet
“Earlier, Kashmir was restive now, the PoK is restive. Earlier, slogans for freedom were being raised in India. but now they are being raised in PoK,” the Home Minister said. Mr. Shah claimed that peace has returned to Kashmir and a record 2.18 crore tourists have visited the region.
On August 6, 2019, the Government of India revoked the special status, or autonomy, granted under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir. The abrogation also came with reorganisation of the full-fledged State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories and the removal of its special privileges.
“Earlier stone-pelting used to happen here, and now the same is happening in PoK,” he said, adding that certain leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar and Farukh Abdullah were trying to scare people by saying that Pakistan has atom bombs.
The BJP leader took a dig at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, saying that had legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray been alive today, his iconic film, Hirak Rajar Deshe, would be called Hirak Rani.
Highlights ‘scams’
“Satyajit Ray was a great filmmaker. He made a movie, Hirak Rajar Deshe. When Mamata Banerjee’s regime was first elected, Satyajit Ray was not alive. Otherwise, he would have named the movie, Hirak Rani. Mamata Banerjee is Hirak Rani,” Mr. Shah said at a poll rally in West Bengal’s Hooghly today.
The 1980 film to which Mr. Shah was referring was about a megalomaniac and tyrannical king. During the election campaign, the BJP leadership in the State, particularly actor Rudranil Ghosh, have been releasing spoofs from the film and highlighting the scams in West Bengal, particularly the “recruitment scam.”
The Home Minister, during a public meeting at Sreerampore, condemned the TMC for scams. “People have to decide between leaders who make themselves crorepatis or Narendra Modi, who is making 3 crore Lakhpati Didis,” he said.
The Home Minister reiterated his party’s commitment to the Citizenship Amendment Act and asked, “Do you want infiltrators or Narendra Modi, who gives citizenship to refugees? Do you want to vote for Jihad or vote for Vikas?” He accused the Chief Minister of supporting “infiltrators and Rohingyas’ and opposing the CAA.
