Amit Shah in Gujarat: Rath Yatra attackers now chanting ‘Jagannath Jagannath’ in jail

Shah, who virtually inaugurated 57 housing and office complexes for police in 25 districts at an event in Nadiad in Kheda district, said, “I am from Gujarat and I have seen the state before the BJP came to power and Modiji became CM. Today, I have not come to talk about the misdeeds of the Congress government. For years, Congress has done the work of promoting infighting within society and spreading communal incidents thereby destroying law and order in the state. What was its result? There were over 200 days of curfew in Gujarat in a year. If a man went to Relief Road in the morning for work, there was no guarantee that he would return. For several days, banks, factories and businesses used to be shut down; there was so much loss to the economy. If there was a Rath Yatra, communal violence was bound to happen.”

“However after the BJP government came to power, has a single person dared to attack the Rath Yatra? Say it loudly… Has anyone dared?” asked Shah. “Those who had dared are today sitting in lockups chanting ‘Jagannath Jagannath’,” he added.

Shah also said that it was the BJP government that brought peace in the border state “without doing any appeasement”. “During my student days, as an Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad worker, I went to Porbandar, where I saw billboards saying ‘the Porbandar border begins here and law and order ends here’. There was a rule of smugglers and mafia and the state government, through a notification, had to shut down a jail over there. When I became the home minister, I started the work of opening a jail right on the chest of these mafias. Likewise, Modiji as CM of Gujarat had given clear instructions that the smuggling of drugs, weapons and explosives through the Kutch border must be stopped. Today no one can dare enter the state through the Kutch border. Despite being a border state, Gujarat, without doing any tushtikaran (appeasement) has brought peace. We have such a long coastline and border with Pakistan but no one can disrupt the law and order in Gujarat,” said Shah.

“In the past 20 years, from CM Modi to CM Patel, the BJP-led government has spent Rs 3,840 crore to build houses for 31,146 police personnel in Gujarat. Be it Diwali, Holi, Raksha Bandhan, police personnel are dedicated towards their duty. Even during the Rath Yatra in Ahmedabad, when people are busy celebrating and eating prasad, police are engaged in bandobast. The sacrifice of the police is higher than any other department. Other department officials have a scheduled work time but not the police. We cannot change this working style of the police but what we can ensure is that we take care of their families by building houses for them. I say it with pride after providing houses for over 31,000 personnel that Gujarat tops the country when it comes to police satisfaction,” said Shah.

“Police across India have been committed towards the internal security of the country. Whenever challenges have come, the police force has upgraded itself. Many people with the attempt to break the country had conspired many times but due to the patriotism, hard work, and commitment of the police, such attempts have always failed. However, in this process, over 35,000 police personnel laid down their lives. Many times, we have heard negative things about the police but today I say to the people of Gujarat that they had these 35,000 people not dedicated their lives to the motherland, then you would not have been safe today,” said Shah.

Shah also lauded Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for his contribution towards the making of modern India. “Due to the efforts of the ironman, today the vision of Akhand Bharat has come true. At the time of Independence, many people had thought that how can a country that has over 600 Rajas and Rajwadas ever unite? This would not have been possible without Sardar. Be it Junagadh, Jodhpur or Hyderabad, Sardar Patel united the country into one,” said Shah.

Also present were Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi, Minister Devusinh Chauhan and DGP Ashish Bhatia, among others.

“I thank PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on behalf of the people of Gujarat for strengthening India on a global level. Today, the two sons of Gujarat have fulfilled our dream of scrapping Article 370 and ending terrorism in Kashmir. They have strengthened India’s borders, adopted a zero-tolerance policy against terrorism, and initiated the construction of the (Ayodhya) Ram temple.

“Suddenly, a war broke out between Russia and Ukraine. At a time when strong countries across the world were thinking about how to get their students back from Ukraine, the Indian government brought every student home safely. Today, Gujarat is known as the safest state in the country. It is the state that employs lakhs of youths, fulfilling their parents’ dreams. Before 2002, Gujarat was known as a state where curfew was imposed for over 250 days at a time, and cities were known after their ‘Bhai’ (strongmen) and communal incidents were rampant,” said Sanghavi.