Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that certain decisions taken by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government may have been wrong, but the intention behind them were not.
“We have taken several decisions and one or two might be wrong,” Shah said, during the 94th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry in New Delhi. “Even critics would have to agree that the country has seen a lot of changes in the last seven years, but there have been no allegations of corruption against this government.”
The Union home minister said there had been significant changes in the Indian economy and claimed that 60 crore deprived citizens were made participants of the development process.
“There were 60 crore people, who did not have a bank account, they did not have electricity connection, gas connection or health facilities,” Shah claimed, according to PTI. “The Modi government has given all of these to them and it has helped increase their faith in India’s democratic process.”
He also spoke about the BJP government’s work during the Covid-19 pandemic and the August 2019 decision to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
On August 5, 2019, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government had abrogated Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution.
While Article 370 gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, Article 35A empowered the erstwhile state’s legislature to define the “permanent residents” of the state and provide them with special rights and privileges.
The erstwhile state was also bifurcated into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
The home minister on Friday said that no one had thought that Article 370 would be repealed “without bloodshed”.
Ninety-six civilians were killed in Jammu and Kashmir after Article 370 was revoked, the Centre told Parliament on December 8. Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said between August 5, 2019, and November 30, the number of militants killed was 366 and 81 members of the security forces had also died in Jammu and Kashmir.
Also read:
Jammu and Kashmir: 96 civilians died after special status revoked, Centre tells Parliament
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