'Scrapping of Article 370 was step towards achieving dream of Akhand Bharat'

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said the abrogation of Article 370 was a step towards achieving the dream of Akhand Bharatrsquo or prePartition India He also invoked the Jewish tradition of yearning for return to Israel while talking about the observance of Partition Horrors Remembrance DayThe BJP leader was speaking at an event organised to launch the Har Ghar Tirangarsquo initiative here in the presence of Lt Gen retd Rajendra Nimbhorkar who played a key role in the 2016 surgical strikersquo carried out by the Indian Army to destroy terrorist camps across the Line of ControlOn August 14 the country will observe Partition Horrors Remembrance Day Fadnavis said adding ldquowe all believe in lsquoAkhand Bharat undivided Indiarsquo but as long as the dream of Akhand Bharat is not achieved we all feel the pain that on this day my country was partitionedrdquo The Jews prayed for 2000 years seeking that they should be able to hold prayers in their holy land one day and eventually they got Israel back he saidldquoWe do not have to wait for 2000 years We have to see the dream of Akhand Bharat in this lifetime and it has started with the abrogation of 370rdquo Fadnavis said The Narendra Modiled Union government in August 2019 abrogated the provisions under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which granted a special status to Jammu and KashmirldquoIf we can not even call Kashmir our own what about Akhand Bharat But Modi ji had the capacity to scrap Article 370rdquo Fadnavis said It was his dream that PakistanoccupiedKashmir will become part of India and the real Akhand Bharat will come into existence one day the Maharashtra deputy CM further said ldquoBut till that time by observing Partition Horrors Remembrance Day we will keep the pain in our heart aliverdquo he saidReferring to the 2016 surgical strikes Fadnavis also took a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for allegedly asking for its proof ldquoSometimes I think what the soldiers like Lt Gen Nimbhorkar must be feeling when the Yuvraj prince of the Congress asks for the proof of the surgical strike What the family members of these bravehearts must be feelingrdquo he saidldquoSome people say conducting such operations against Pakistan is okay what about China I would like to ask these people under whose rule thousands of hectares of land were swallowed up by China Everybody knows the answer But for the first time under the leadership of Modi ji our soldiers stopped China by crossing the border stopped China in Doklam This is the prowess of our armyrdquo Fadnavis saidThe countryrsquos leadership realized that if China built roads and infrastructure in border areas it can attack India from a strategic location he said ldquoWe stopped China for months and ultimately they had to go back This is the capacity of the new India In Galwan when our soldiers were killed our army showed the courage to kill four times more Chinese soldiersrdquo the BJP leader said China had to accept Indiarsquos claims and both sides decided to deescalate tensions Fadnavis saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever