india

Updated: Sep 18, 2019 02:15 IST

Jammu and Kashmir has been peaceful since it was divested of its special status on August 5, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and reiterated that not a single bullet has had to be fired to ensure law and order.

Shah listed the nullification of Article 370, which conferred special status on Kashmir, and Article 35A, which reserved benefits such as government jobs and property ownership for permanent residents among the top achievements of the government.

Reaffirming the Narendra Modi government’s commitment to national security, Shah said the government will not compromise on the territorial integrity of India.Threats to India’s territorial integrity will be met with a bold and strong response, the home minister said at the 46th National Management Convention held by the All India Management Association (AIMA), in New Delhi.

Highlighting the achievements of the National Democratic Alliance government in the past six years, the minister also took a swipe at the Congress. There was a sense of despondence in the country before the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, the minister said.

After nearly 70 years of independence, “there was a question in the minds of the people whether the vision of the founding fathers had really been realized; whether the multi-party democratic system had failed to fulfil the aspirations of the citizens of the country,” Shah said about the months immediately prior to the BJP coming to power.

In the India of 2013, widespread corruption prevailed, the country’s borders were not secure and soldiers were dying every day, Shah said. The home minister claimed that every minister then considered himself the PM.

In contrast, he said the Modi government worked in an organised manner with clear targets, detailed planning and a well-thought-through implementation strategy. The Modi government, he said, was a balanced government in which leaders take “bold decisions” and the bureaucracy implements them seamlessly. “From 2014 to 2019, people have seen a decisive government. Normally, five big decisions are taken in 30 years. But in the first five years of the Modi government, 50 major decisions were taken...,” he said.