New Delhi, Sept 28: Asserting that abrogation of Article 370 paved the way for resolving the Kashmir’s sponsored terrorism problem, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that it was abolished under a well-thought-out policy against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
He said that the abrogation led to sharp decline in violence, ushering in an era of peace and development in J&K.
“I want to share its results. There has been a 65 per cent reduction in the deaths of security personnel, 77 per cent reduction in the deaths of civilians,” he said.
The home minister said the Panchayat elections were held in Jammu and Kashmir for the first time since independence with a record turnout.
“Once upon a time, MPs got elected with 10,000 votes because elections were boycotted. There was 99 per cent voter turnout in the district and taluka panchayat elections,” he said.
He also rejected the ceasefire offer given by Maoists, saying if the extremists want to surrender and lay down arms, they are most welcome to do so and security forces would not fire a single bullet on them.
This is the first time that a top central government functionary has reacted to the ceasefire offer given by the Naxals about a fortnight ago.
“Recently, to spread confusion, a letter was written stating that what has happened so far has been a mistake, that a ceasefire should be declared, and that we (Naxals) want to surrender. I want to say there will be no ceasefire. If you want to surrender, there is no need for a ceasefire. Lay down your arms, not a single bullet will be fired”, Shah said.
He said if the Naxals want to surrender, a red carpet welcome awaits them with a “lucrative” rehabilitation policy.
Addressing the valedictory session of a seminar on ‘Naxal Mukt Bharat’, Shah also hit out at Left parties for extending ideological support to the Left Wing Extremism and dismissed their arguments that lack of development led to the Maoist violence.
He said it was due to the “red terror” that development could not reach many parts of the country for several decades.
“I want to tell you that there will be no ceasefire. If you want to surrender, lay down arms and not a single bullet will be fired. A red carpet welcome awaits you if you surrender,” he said.
Shah said this in response to the offer of a ceasefire given by the CPI (Maoists) following the intensified operations carried out by security forces, including Operation Black Forest along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, in which several top Naxals were eliminated.
The home minister said there are many people who believe that merely stopping the killings by Naxals is enough to eradicate Naxalism from India.
However, he said, this is not true as Naxalism developed in India because its ideology was nurtured by people within the society.
“Why did the Naxal problem arise, grow and develop in the country? Who provided them with ideological support? Until Indian society understands this, the idea of Naxalism and the people in society who provided ideological support, legal support, and financial support, the fight against Naxalism will not end,” he said, adding, “We must identify and understand those who continue to nurture the Naxal ideology”.
Shah asserted that the country will be free of Naxalism by March 31, 2026.
The home minister said those who hold weapons are not concerned about the tribals. Instead, they are worried about keeping alive the Leftist ideology that has already been rejected across the world.
“They wrote letters and issued press notes demanding that Operation Black Forest be immediately stopped. The CPI and CPI(M) did. Why do they need to protect them? Why don’t all these Naxal sympathiser NGOs come forward to protect the human rights of tribal victims?” he asked.
Shah said the Left parties maintain silence on Naxal violence, but when ‘Operation Black Forest’ was carried out to eliminate the Naxals, they started talking about human rights.
He also said that the Naxal violence was at its peak when the Left parties were not in power in West Bengal, but started to decline after the Left parties assumed power in the 1970s.
He said that the “Pashupati to Tirupati” was known in government documents by the name of “red corridor” and a population of about 12 crore was living under the shadow of Naxal violence.
“Approximately 10 per cent of the population at that time was suffering the brunt of Naxalism,” he said.
Paying tributes to those who lost their lives and loved ones in LWE violence since the 1960s, the home minister said when the Naxals now “chant from Pashupatinath to Tirupati, people laugh at them”.
On the Northeast, Shah said since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, there has been a 70 per cent reduction in casualties among security forces, an 85 per cent reduction in the casualties of civilians and so far 12 peace agreements have been signed with insurgent groups based in the region.
Over 10,000 militants in the Northeast have surrendered before authorities in the last 11 years, he said, adding the region is marching ahead with many development projects.
