On Sardar Patel's birth anniversary, Kashmir and Ladakh will start walking towards new future: Modi

As the official bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories coincided with Sardar Patel's birth anniversary, Modi, who had installed Sardar Patel's statue (the tallest in the world) here last year, said, "From today, J&K and Ladakh will walk towards a new future, on the birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India."

Hailing Patel, who is credited for merging 560 princely states into India, the Prime Minister said, "Sardar Patel had said that had the Kashmir issue been put on his shoulders, it wouldn't have taken so long. Today, on his birth anniversary, I dedicate the historic decision taken on Aug 5 to Sardar Patel."

With the official bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, India lost a state but gained two new Union Territories in the form of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh close to three months after the Centre took the historic step of bifurcation along with abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.

Referring to his stance towards terrorism, Modi said, "We will defeat and fight every attack against the unity of India. Taking inspiration from Sardar Patel, we are working towards empowering the emotional, economic and constitutional integration of India."

From now on, Jammu and Kashmir will cease to have a separate flag and its own constitution. The two Articles, which have been abrogated, used to provide former state Jammu and Kashmir special status enabling it to have its own law and bar people from outside the valley to buy immovable property.

Blaming the previous regimes but not taking his arch-rival Congress' name, Modi reminded people of his home state that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government after returning to power with a thumping majority this May ended long-term "problems" over Kashmir by abrogating the two Articles.

"The physical and emotional connectivity between the north-east and rest of India was questioned on several occasions in the past. That situation has changed. The problems that stood for decades have headed towards getting solved," the Prime Minister said highlighting the integration of the northern region with the rest of the country.

Despite the repeated attacks on "non-Kashmiris" since Aug 5 when the Centre withdrew Jammu and Kashmir's special status, Modi apprehended a change of scenario in the valley as far as terrorism is concerned.

"In three decades, over 40,000 people had lost their lives due to terrorism in J&K that had Article 370. How long could the country witness the death of so many incident people?
The wall has been broken down, and Sardar Patel's dream has come true," he said just couple of days after five labourers from West Bengal's Murshidabad were killed by terrorists.

Giving a stern message to Pakistan, the Prime Minister endorsed the country's "unity in diversity' saying India survived each and every external attempt of its division.

"Those who can't win wars against us are trying to divide us. They are questioning and challenging our unity. They forget that even after years of such attempts, no one has been able to defeat our unity in diversity," he said.

Image Credit: BJP Twitter