No power on earth can snatch J&K from us: Amit Shah

Srinagar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Wednesday said that no power on earth can snatch Jammu and Kashmir from India nor will his party allow the “dream” of having a separate Prime Minister for the state come true.

“Today I’m declaring it from the soil of Jammu and Kashmir and you should listen it with open ears that BJP won’t allow anybody to snatch Jammu & Kashmir from India...you are talking about a separate Prime Minister for the state and I say your dream will never come true,” he said while addressing an election rally in Udhampur.

Slamming former chief minister and National Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah for raising such a demand, Mr Shah said “Do you think you will make one more Prime Minister (within the country) and we will sit idle and do nothing. Listen, we will risk our own lives to save Jammu and Kashmir.” He added that the BJP, whether in power or in opposition, would never let such a demand get fulfilled.

The BJP chief asked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to clarify his stand on the issue raised by his electoral ally. He said, “I want to ask the Congress president to clarify to the nation whether or not he agrees with his ally’s demand.”

He also said, “Omar Abdullah who inherited everything says don’t touch Article 35A and that there should be a separate Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir...his associates are chanting pro-Pakistan slogans and Congress is silent.”

Mr Shah said that it were Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Pandit Prem Nath Dogra who kept J&K with India and that BJP as a party whichfollows their ideals will ensure the State remains an inseparable part of the country and hence would not let anything that dilutes this relationship happen till its last breath.

He came down heavily on Congress also over its stand on the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and said that nobody can dilute the AFSPA as the BJP will be standing like a rock in support of security forces “who are protecting our borders”.

He said that the Congress and its leadership should feel ashamed of what the opposition party has announced in its manifesto — to dilute AFSPA. On its promise to omit Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code that defines the offence of ‘sedition’ on the premise that it has been “misused” and become “redundant because of subsequent laws”, the BJP chief asked “Who do you want to protect...the people who chanted anti-India slogans like “bharat tere tukde honge” in JNU”?

Referring to the Balakot airstrikes, he said, “The entire country was enraged over the Pulwama terror attack in which we lost 41 CRPF jawans. We retaliated by striking deep inside Pakistan to target the terrorist training facility and if anyone was saddened it were Pakistan, National Conference, PDP and Rajiv Gandhi. I don’t know if those who were killed in airstrikes were yours cousins.” He also warned Pakistan, saying “agar wahan se goli aati hai, yahaan se gola jaye ga (if a bullet comes from there, a shell will go from here)”.