PoK belongs to India, asserts Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Hyderabad, May 11: In a scathing attack on Congress and its leaders, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said due to the fear of Pakistan having an atom bomb, the grand old party wants to give up India's rights over Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Shah, who addressed election rallies at Vikarabad and Nagarkurnool in Telangana on the last day of campaigning for Lok Sabha polls in the state, recalled that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had conducted nuclear tests at Pokhran on this day in 1998 and made the country a nuclear power.
The Congress does not have the courage to conduct surgical strike and airstrikes, he alleged.
Shah said Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook surgical strikes and air strikes within 10 days after Pakistan terrorists attacked the coutnry and finished them.
Referring to the reported comments of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Pakistan having an atom bomb, the home minister said he would like to ask Rahul Gandhi if Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) would be given to the neighbouring country because of it having atom bomb.
"As long as BJP is there, it cannot happen" and PoK belongs to India and we will take it, he said.
"They don't feel shame. Due to fear of an atom bomb, they want to give up our rights over PoK. But you don't worry, Modi ji is going to be Prime Minister again and Pakistan's bullets will be replied to with cannon," Shah said.
On AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge's alleged comments as to what Telangana people have to do with Kashmir, Shah said the Telangana youth can give their life for Kashmir.
PM Modi has ended terror and naxalism in the country, he said.
Referring to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's comments on surgical strikes, he asked, "Revanth Reddy, where did you keep your mind? You kept it in Italy?".
Reddy on Friday claimed an intelligence failure in preventing the Pulwama incident.
"Modi ji tried to take political benefit from the surgical strike after Pulwama incident. My question to Modi ji is, what are you doing? Why did the Pulwama incident happen? Why did you let it happen? What are you doing about internal security?
"Why did you not use agencies like IB, RAW? It is your failure. Nobody knows if a surgical strike actually took place or not," Reddy had said.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
