No one can now dare carry out blasts and escape, unlike in the past, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday and asserted that the country was safe under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.
Noting that blasts occurred frequently in the past, Shah also attacked previous governments for not taking action against terrorists, citing the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
The government has sero tolerance policy towards terrorism, Shah said as he also asserted that Naxalism will end in India by March 2026. Amit Shah said this while replying to a discussion in the Upper House on the workings of the Union Home Ministry.
“There was a time when bomb blasts were routine. I want to tell the people of the country that, for the last 10 years, the series of bomb blasts have stopped. No one can now dare carry out bomb blasts. The country is safe under Narendra Modi. We are committed to uprooting terrorism,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.
Referring to the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, he said terrorists earlier easily entered the country, attacked hotels and railway stations, and escaped. “But no action was taken,” the home minister said.
There is peace in Kashmir, the majority of terrorists in the northeast have surrendered, and the country is moving forward under the leadership of Modi, he added. “With strong political willpower and strong management of Modi ji, the country is safe now. The opposition should not be worried. We will keep you (opposition) as well as the country safe,” Shah said.
The home minister did not speak on the violence in Manipur, saying he would deliberate on the issue in detail when imposition of President’s Rule in the northeastern state would come up for discussion. He said the government fulfilled the dream of the architects of the Constitution by abrogating Article 370.
“Article 370 was the basis of separatism in Kashmir. But I also thank the architects of the Constitution, they made the provision temporary, and the way to abrogate it was also included in the Article,” Shah said. “But due to vote bank politics and stubbornness, Article 370 continued. On August 5, 2019, Article 370 was totally abrogated.
The dream of the architects of our Constitution, was that there can’t be two heads, two constitutions and two flags in the country,” he said. Shah said the issue of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, left-wing extremism, and insurgency in Northeast were among the biggest challenges for India. “Around 92,000 citizens were killed in four decades.
No organised effort was done to deal with these, and the Modi government did it,” he said. Shah also said the number of deaths of civilians and security personnel in terror incidents has drastically come down, while there has been zero incidents of stone pelting in the Kashmir valley.
“There has been a 70 per cent reduction in deaths due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir during Modi govt; terror incidents too fell sharply,” he said.
Shah also said grassroots level democracy has been established in Jammu and Kashmir by successfully holding elections in urban and rural local bodies.
“Around 40,000 government jobs provided during 2019-24 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1.51 Lakh self employment created, skilling clubs operational,” he said. The Home Minister also accused previous governments of not taking action against Naxalism.”By March 21, 2026, Naxalism will end in this country,” Amit Shah said.