No talks with Pakistan; Modi govt won't tolerate terrorism, Amit Shah says in J-K's Baramulla

PTI

Baramulla, October 5

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday ruled out holding any dialogue with Pakistan and asserted that the Modi government would wipe out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir and make it the most peaceful place in the country.

Addressing a rally here, Shah asked whether terrorism had ever benefited anyone as the menace had claimed 42,000 lives in J&K since the 1990s.

He also blamed the families of the Abdullahs (National Conference), Muftis (PDP) and Nehru-Gandhi (Congress) for the alleged underdevelopment of Jammu and Kashmir as they ruled the erstwhile state most of the time since the country's independence in 1947.

“Some people say we should talk to Pakistan. Why should we talk to Pakistan? We will not talk. We will talk to the people of Baramulla, we will talk to the people of Kashmir,” Shah said.

He said the Modi government does not tolerate terrorism and it wanted to end and wipe it out.

“We want to make Jammu and Kashmir the most peaceful place in the country,” he said.

Shah said some people often talked about Pakistan but he wanted to know how many villages in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) had electricity connection.

“We have ensured, in the last three years, that all villages in Kashmir have electricity connection,” he added.

Coming down heavily on three political families for the second consecutive day, even taking their names, the home minister alleged that their rules were full of mis-governance, corruption and lack of development.

“Mufti and company, Abdullah and sons and the Congress have done nothing for the welfare of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.