Amit Shah likely to arrive in Kashmir today
Srinagar/Serampore: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to arrive on a two-day visit to Kashmir on Thursday, a local BJP leader said here.
“The Home Minister will arrive here tomorrow evening and meet several delegations,” BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur told PTI.
He said Shah is also likely to chair a security review meeting during his overnight stay in the valley.
“Our local party leaders, delegations from the Pahari community, trade bodies and civil society are scheduled to meet the Home Minister,” Thakur added.
The BJP has not fielded its candidates for the three Lok Sabha seats in Kashmir but has unofficially extended support to some of the new political parties formed after the abrogation of Article 370.
Earlier, Amit Shah referred to protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and said “PoK is part of India and we will take it”.
Addressing a rally in West Bengal’s Serampore, Shah said while peace has returned to once trouble-torn Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir “now echoes with slogans of Azadi and protests”.
“After the abrogation of Article 370 by the government in 2019, peace has returned to Kashmir. But now we are witnessing protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Earlier, slogans of Azadi were heard here, now the same slogans are heard in PoK. Earlier stones were pelted here, now stones are pelted in PoK,” he said.
Hitting out at Congress leaders for not supporting the demand of taking over PoK, Shah said, “Congress leaders like Mani Shankar Aiyar say it should not be done as they have an atom bomb. But let me say this, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of India and we will take it.”
He further said, “Rahul Gandhi might oppose it. Mamata Banerjee might oppose it. But the reality is that PoK will be a part of India.”
The BJP leader said the ongoing parliamentary elections are about choosing between “leaders of dynastic politics or honest leader Narendra Modi” who comes from a humble background.
“Sharad Pawar wants his daughter to be the chief minister. Mamata Banerjee wants her nephew to succeed her as the chief minister. Stalin (Tamil Nadu Chief Minister) wants to see his son succeed him. Sonia Gandhi wants Rahul Baba to become the Prime Minister. On the other side, there is an honest and dedicated leader born in the family of a tea-seller,” he said.
“It’s a fight between the ‘Chinese guarantee’ of the INDI Alliance and the concrete promises of Modi Ji. It’s a fight between infiltration and the guarantee of citizenship under the CAA. It’s a fight between ‘Vote for Vikas’ and ‘Vote for Jihad’! The choice is yours,” he said.
He added, “On one hand, we have Rahul Gandhi, who makes frequent trips to foreign countries like Bangkok, and on the other hand, Modi for the last 23 years have been spending his Diwali with Army jawans.”
Dubbing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as “Hirak Rani” in an apparent reference to the film ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’ by Oscar-winning filmmaker Satyajit Ray, Shah said, “Ray was a great artist and filmmaker. He made the movie Hirak Rajar Deshe. It was quite a famous movie.”
“But when Mamata ji came to power, Satyajit Ray was not there, otherwise, he would have made a movie named ‘Hirak Rani’, instead of ‘Hirak Rajar Deshe’. Mamata Banerjee is the Hirak Rani,” he said.
“Bengal is the land which gave us ‘Vande Mataram’ and national anthem ‘Jana Gana Mana’ and played a key role in India’s freedom struggle. Both the communists and the TMC tried to end nationalism and patriotism in Bengal,” he said.
