PM Modi-led govt will not allow an inch of land to be encroached: Amit Shah

Mukesh Ranjan

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New Delhi, December 13

Attacking opposition Congress for disrupting proceedings in both the Houses of Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government would not allow a single inch of India’s land to be encroached upon by China or any other country and applauded Indian soldiers for their valour.

Addressing media outside Parliament House, Shah said, “The opposition today did not allow the question hour in the Lok Sabha to continue. They did so citing the incidents that took place in Arunachal Pradesh on the intervening night of December 8 and 9. They had no plausible justification to do the same, as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister had already clarified that Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh would make a statement in Parliament at noon.”

The home minister further said, “When I saw the fifth question in the schedule, I understood the cause of their worry. The fifth question was related to the cancellation of the FCRA registration of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF). The question was raised by a Congress party member.”

He noted that had he got the opportunity, he would have told Parliament that during financial years 2005-06 and 2006-07, the RGF had received a grant of Rs.1.35 crore from the Chinese Embassy. Shah said, “Since the transaction was not in conformity to the FCRA laws, the Ministry of Home Affairs, after following all the legal formalities and after issuing a notice, cancelled the FCRA registration.”

The foundation was registered as an organisation that was involved in social work, but the amount received from the Chinese Embassy was meant for research related to the development of Indo-Sino relationship, he said.

“Now, I want to ask the Congress party that since they might have already conducted the research, have they included the issue of encroachment of thousands of hectares of land by China in 1962? If research is conducted on this subject then what is the outcome of it? India’s prospect of getting permanent membership in the Security Council was sacrificed on account of former PM Nehru. Was this also included in the research? If it was, then what was the outcome,” he said posing several other similar questions to the Congress.

“I want to ask the Congress party to renounce this double standard and hypocrisy as people of India understand everything,” Shah said, while asserting that the government led by PM Modi “will not allow a single inch of India’s land to be encroached upon”.

“I praise the efforts of the Indian Army during the intervening night of December 8 and 9. They drove all the infiltrators out within a few hours and protected our motherland,” he said.

The home minister also alleged that Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust received a grant from Islamic Research Foundation founded by Zakir Naik. “The entire nation knows Zakir Naik. It took a grant of Rs 50 lakh on July 7, 2011. I want to ask the Trust run by the family-run Congress, why did Zakir Naik pay you this amount? Please clarify this to the people of India,” he said.