New Delhi, July 30 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Congress in Rajya Sabha while defending the government’s decisive actions in Kashmir post the Pahalgam terror attack and during Operations Sindoor and Mahadev.

Home Minister in his fiery speech accused the opposition of “secular appeasement politics” and said that the Modi government had ended Kashmir’s decades-old terror ecosystem.

Discussing Kashmir, he said that under the Congress era, separatism continued to flourish in the Valley, followed by the wave of ‘Azaadi’. “Instead of banning such terror outfits, Congress allowed them to flourish, which ultimately led to the beginning of terrorism in Kashmir”, he said, adding that Congress didn’t ban these outfits because of “vote-bank politics.”

Shah credited the Modi government for reducing Kashmir separatism by striking at its ideological and logistical roots.

“Terrorist funerals were once public processions. Now, they are buried at the encounter site itself. Jamaat-e-Islami’s toxic control over education is gone. Separatist outfits like Hurriyat were legitimised under Congress; we have erased their ecosystem,” he said.

Highlighting the August 5, 2019, revocation of Article 370, Shah said, “This marked the real beginning of a terror-free Kashmir. The Modi government didn’t just remove laws – it removed the mindset that allowed terrorism to flourish.”

Emphasising that Kashmir’s problem began right after its integration, as the Nehru government back them gave them Article 370 and Article 35 A.

“Because of Article 370 and 35 A, Jammu and Kashmir had their own constitution, their own flag. But Congress never raised this issue. In the later years, we saw Congress allow these separatist groups and were engaging with them, but on August 5, 2019, we dismantled that entire terror ecosystem,” he said.

–IANS

sas/dan