New Delhi, Jul 24:
Terrorists active in Jammu and Kashmir will either land in jail or be sent to ‘jahannum’ (hell), Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday while asserting that the Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism.
Rai was replying to a supplementary question from Congress MP Pramod Tiwari.
Terrorist activities witnessed recently will soon end, the minister said. “They (terrorists) will not succeed in their design,” he added.
In the past few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir and some security personnel have also lost their lives, which is very unfortunate, Rai said.
According to the minister, security forces have killed about 900 terrorists in the region after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
“Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism. We will end terrorism. They (terrorists) will be either in jail or jahannum… I want to assure the House,” Rai said.
Between 2004-2014 when the UPA was ruling at the Centre, there were were 7,217 incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The number came down to 2,259 from 2014, when the BJP was voted to power, and July 21 this year, Rai said.
“These should not have happened. It is unfortunate but they (opposition) should not do politics over it,” the minister said.
In 2019, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Rai told the House that 2,829 citizens and security personnel lost their lives between 2004 and 2014. This number has come down by 67 per cent since 2014. Besides, there is also reduction of 69 per cent in terror incidents.
People in Jammu and Kashmir are now living in a peaceful environment and there is full guarantee of security, he said.
The Government on Wednesday said that over 1 crore tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir till June this year while several measures have been taken that led to significant improvement in the tourism sector.
Replying to a question of MP Dinesh Sharma,
Either Jail or ‘Jahannum’
Minister of state for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, said that the tourism sector in J&K has witnessed unprecedented growth post abrogation of Article 370
He said that 34,70,834 tourists visited J&K in 2020, 1,13,14,884 in 2021 followed by 1,88,64,332 in 2022, 2,11,24,874 in 2023 and 1,08,41,009 till June this year so far.
“The government of Jammu and Kashmir has reported that several measures have been taken that led to significant improvement in the tourism including Tourism Policy 2020 and status of industry to the tourism sector for availing incentives under the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Policy 2021,” he said.
