New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to power after the 2024 general elections and hoped that by 2026, terrorism will be completely eliminated from Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said the government’s focus is on ending the ecosystem which has been aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for years.
He said with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, separatism has ended in the Union Territory and terrorism has reduced significantly.
“I believe the Modi government will return to power in 2024 and I hope there will be no terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir in 2026,” he said.
The home minister said a plan to have zero terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir is in force for the last three years and it will be successful by 2026.
He blamed the previous governments for the continuous terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for a long period of time and said had terrorism been tackled at the beginning “without considering vote-bank politics”, Kashmiri Pandits wouldn’t have had to leave the valley.
Shah said 45,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir so far.
He also gave statistics on the reduction of terror related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and said in 2023, there has not been a single stone pelting incident, nor there was a call for ‘hartal’.
“Every month, the home ministry reviews the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in every three months, I visit Jammu and Kashmir and review the situation there,” he said.
