Cong should be 'ashamed' of Rahul's Kashmir remark: Shah

Attacking the Congress, home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday that it should be "ashamed" that its leader Rahul Gandhi's statement was used by Pakistan in its petition to the United Nations on Kashmir.

At a public meeting in Silvassa, Shah, also the Bharatiya Janata Party president, said people have supported the Narendra Modi government's move to nullify Article 370 but some, he added in a swipe at Gandhi, are still opposing it.

"The Congress opposed the move to remove Article 370. Whatever statements Rahul Gandhi make are lauded in Pakistan. Pakistan has included his comments in its plea. Congress leaders should be ashamed that these statements are being used against India," he said.

Gandhi had in a statement spoken about reports of violence and "people dying" in Kashmir following the removal of provisions of Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir special status, and Pakistan had mentioned it in its petition against India.

Shah said not a single bullet or tear gas shell has been fired in Kashmir nor anybody killed ever since the Centre revoked sections of Article 370.

"Today, questions are being raised about the law and order of Kashmir. I would like to tell the entire country and the world that Kashmir is entirely peaceful. Ever since the removal of Article 370, not a single bullet or tear gas shell has been fired, nor has anybody been killed in Kashmir till date," he said at a rally.

Shah said the revocation of the special status has paved the way for development in Jammu and Kashmir and it will be a "final nail in the coffin of terrorism".

It has fully integrated Jammu and Kashmir with India, he said.

The Congress had hit out at Pakistan for dragging Gandhi's name, and the former Congress chief had tweeted that J-K was an internal matter of India and there was no room for Pakistan or any other country to intervene.

Shah accused the Congress of breaking the tradition of the opposition supporting the government on issues of national interests.

He claimed the BJP and its predecessor Bharatiya Jan Sangh, when in the opposition, supported governments over issues of national interest like wars with Pakistan and China, and over resolutions declaring J-K an integral part of India.

"It has been a tradition in the country. When the question is of national interest, we should rise above party-politics to think about the country. You (Congress) are breaking the tradition. You do not know that when you play vote-bank politics, people are assessing you on the same," he said.

Shah also accused the Congress of siding with people raising anti-India slogans in the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi as well as questioning the Modi government over surgical strikes on Pakistan.

"When slogans were raised in the JNU, the Congress stood with those people. When Narendra Modi (government) conducted surgical strike, they raised questions, where are the photographs, and Pakistan similarly raised questions asking where is the photograph," he said.

"Now when we have removed Article 370 and 35A, you continue to oppose us. I would like to ask Congress leaders, where do you want to do politics? You do not know the people of India, who stand like a rock behind Narendra Modi," he said.

He said the decision to scrap sections of Article 370 could only be taken by PM Modi and the move would pave the way for peace and development of the restive northern state.

"I can tell you, as his minister, the decision taken by Modiji is something that nobody else could have taken. Many came and went in 70 years, ruled for three generations, but could not remove Article 370. People are blessing PM for this," he told the crowd.

During his visit to Silvassa, Shah laid the foundation stone of a Rs 61-crore educational hub, inaugurated a paramedical institute building constructed at a cost of Rs 8 crore and a Rs 10-crore health centre.

He also launched a mid-day meal scheme for 280 schools in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli by NGO Akshay Patra, as well as a scheme for cheap meals for labourers.

He also commenced the first academic session of a medical college in Silvassa.