Congress gave PoK, BJP will bring it back: Home Minister Amit Shah

New Delhi, Jul 30: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, saying the party “gave away” parts of Kashmir to Pakistan when in power and asserted that the BJP government would bring back PoK.

He also claimed that a Hindu could never be a terrorist and hit out at the Congress for coining the phrase “Hindu terror” post the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Shah said the Congress had no right to question the BJP on terrorism, alleging that it indulged in appeasement politics and never adopted a firm policy to tackle the menace when in power.

Replying to the discussion on ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the House, Shah accused the UPA of not taking appropriate action after terror attacks, while the Modi government took measures after every such incident.

He cited the Balakot incident and surgical strikes as well as ‘Operation Sindoor’ and ‘Operation Mahadev’ as India’s befitting replies to Pakistan for promoting terrorism.

The Home Minister also attacked the Congress for questioning his government on foreign policy related to China, saying the opposition party’s love for China had continued for generations since the 1960s.

“The priority of Congress is not the country’s security. Their objective is only to build a vote bank and appeasement politics. Terrorism took root, spread, and grew in India. The sole reason for this has been the Congress’ politics of appeasement and weak policies,” Shah said.

On the Opposition parties’ demand that the government should clarify the role of US President Donald Trump in the ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Home Minister said that the ‘Operation Sindoor’ was not stopped at anyone’s request. “Pakistan was brought to its knees, their DGMO called and said enough is enough, please stop it now,” he said. Shah also emphasised that the Congress had no right to ask about PoK.

“I want to tell the Congress that PoK was given by you, and only the BJP government will bring it back,” he said.

In his more than an hour-long speech, the Home Minister gave a detailed account of ‘Operation Sindoor’ and ‘Operation Mahadev’, which involved the killing of three terrorists responsible for carrying out the Pahalgam attack on April 22.

Shah said that terrorism would end in J&K, and listed out measures taken by the government for the all-around development of J&K.

“I want to say to the terrorists, through this House, do as much as you want, J&K will be free from terrorism. This is the resolve of Modi Ji,” he said.

Shah said it happened for the first time that people were killed in the name of religion, and it was extremely painful.

The terrorists killed tourists to send a message that they would not let Kashmir be free from terrorism.

Earlier, when Shah began to speak, Opposition parties protested and demanded that the Prime Minister speak, but when the Chair refused to entertain their demand, they staged a walkout.

Continuing his tirade against the Congress, he said former Home Minister P Chidambaram had sought proof on whether the terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam attack were from Pakistan.

Shah said that Chidambaram even challenged the justification of ‘Operation Sindoor’.

He said that Chidambaram exposed the mentality of Congress to the whole world that, for the vote bank, they would support Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Toiba, and terrorists.

Shah taunted Congress leader Prithviraj Chauhan, who questioned the naming of the terrorist encounter as ‘Operation Mahadev’, which was not linked to any religion.

He claimed ‘Har Har Mahadev’ was the war cry given by Shivaji while fighting against the Mughals.

About the doubts regarding the timing of their killings, Shah said that the CRPF, Army, and J&K Police, while staying in difficult terrain and having food sent from drones, followed and killed them.

The Home Minister also highlighted the achievements of the government in the last 11 years.

He read out the Prime Minister’s speech delivered on April 24, 2025, and said that following the PM’s guidance, not only were terrorists eliminated, but their launchpad was also destroyed.

Shah said that the government decided to end the one-sided Indus Water Treaty (IWT) as Indian farmers had their rights on the Indus water.

He said that at least 100 people were killed and the headquarters of terror outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Muhammad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen were destroyed by the Modi government.

“I proudly declare to the world that Hindus can never be terrorists,” he said, questioning the Congress for filing false cases against many “patriotic religious institutions”.

“The Congress never took any concrete steps for the preparation of the Indian Army. During the war with China, we didn’t even have proper clothes to wear in the cold. There was neither salt nor matchsticks, and we had a severe shortage of guns and cartridges,” Shah said.

He said today, under the leadership of PM Modi, the Army was equipped with modern weapons like the BrahMos missile. “The ‘Akash Teer’ missile destroys enemy missiles in the air itself, and our Army can turn Pakistan’s entire air defence system into rubble in just half an hour,” Shah said. He said that the Congress government would have given a clean chit to Pakistan had they been in power today.

‘Operation Sindoor’ is not a war but the use of India’s power for self-defence, he said.

Shah said that there had been a 75 percent reduction in violence in insurgency and Left-Wing Extremism under the leadership of PM Modi.

Elaborating on the steps taken by the government to destroy the terror finance ecosystem in Kashmir, Shah said that Article 370 gave opportunities to Pakistan to promote terrorism in Kashmir, but its removal started an era of elimination of terrorism.

“In J&K, 2564 stone-pelting incidents occurred in 2010. Not a single incident occurred after 2024,” Shah said.

“Organised strikes – announced by Hurriyat leaders sitting in Pakistan, which kept the Valley shut for 132 days annually, have not been called even once in the last three years. Now they no longer dare to call for a shutdown,” Shah said. “We hoisted the flag of the Indian constitution in Kashmir,” the Home Minister said, adding that terrorism was on the verge of extinction in Kashmir.

Families of Pahalgam attack victims and many other people wanted the three terrorists to be shot in the head, and they met the same fate in Operation Mahadev, Shah said. He said that during investigations, the identity of the three terrorists killed in ‘Operation Mahadev’ clearly established Lashkar-e-Toiba’s hand in the Pahalgam attack as all three belonged to this terror outfit.