Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments on Kashmir, saying that his comments were used by Pakistan against India and asked whether he speaks in favour of the neighbouring country.
“Pakistan’s Parliament used his statement and their Foreign Minister used his statements to petition in the United Nations against India. I want to ask Rahul Gandhi which county he is speaking for. His statement is being used against India. What is his purpose,” Shah asked at a rally here.
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Reacting to Gandhi’s comment that situation was not normal in Kashmir, Shah said that not a single bullet was fired in the Valley after August 5 when the Parliament abrogated Article 370.
He said: “Rahul said BJP did not do any good by repealing Article 370. He said there was violence in Kashmir. I wanted to tell you that not a single bullet was fired in Kashmir after August 5 and no deaths were reported.”
Keeping up his attack on Congress, he accused the grand old party of raising questions on a matter related to the national security.
No Prime Minister except Narendra Modi had the courage to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, said Shah, asking the gathering whether the constitutional provision should have been gone away or not.
The Home Minister said that Kashmir became fully integrated with the rest of India after the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special rights to state subjects over several matters including land rights and government jobs.
He reiterated that the move will throw open the door of development opportunities for Kashmir and uproot terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir, which has now been bifurcated into two Union Territories.
Launching a scathing attack on the opposition, Shah said that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi were crying over the repeal of Article 370.
“Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar should clarify whether they support the abrogation of Article 370 or not. What do they want? Do they want terrorism to continue in Kashmir,” he said.
He accused the NCP and the Congress of not doing enough for the development of Maharashtra and sought an account of the development works carried out during their governments in the state.
Assembly elections in Maharashtra are slated to take place next month.
(With Agency Inputs)