Amit Shah slams Congress over AFSPA promise, repeal of sedition law

In an apparent reference to the PDP-BJP coalition government Jammu and Kashmir, he said, “When pressure came to dilute AFSPA, we pulled out.”

Targeting National Conference leader Omar Abdullah for his remark on a separate Prime Minister for J&K if there was any attempt to fiddle with Article 35A , Shah said, “We will not allow any attempt aimed at seceding Jammu and Kashmir from India. We will save it at the cost of our lives.”

“From Udhampur, I want to tell Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and their patron Rahul Baba that their dream of having a separate PM for Jammu and Kashmir will never be realised as long as BJP exists,” he said.

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Shah said national security was the main issue facing the country today.

Justifying the policy of the Narendra Modi government against Pakistan and terrorists, Shah said the Congress president may criticise it, but if a bullet came from the other side, a bomb will be fired from this side. Self-defence is our right and the entire world accepted it and rallied behind India after the IAF’s bombing of the terror camp in Pakistan, he said.

Shah said the airstrikes in Balakot were celebrated across the country but gloom descended on the offices of Rahul Gandhi, NC and PDP.

In a rally at Uttarkashi district in Uttarakhand, Shah said the Congress chief should clarify his stand on the issue raised by his electoral ally NC. “Omar Abdullah says there should be a separate prime minister in Jammu and Kashmir. His associates are shouting pro-Pakistan slogans and Congress is silent,” Shah said.

Lashing out at the Congress for promising to remove the anti-sedition law, Shah asked who the Congress was trying to protect. “When anti-India slogans like ‘Bharat tere tukde honge’ were shouted in JNU you stood with them in the name of right to freedom of speech. Do you want to protect those booked under the anti-sedition law?” he asked. —WITH PTI INPUTS