‘Jail or jahannum’: Minister spells out Centre’s stance on terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Nityanand Rai said the Narendra Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism. Nityanand Rai, the minister of state for home affairs, spelt out the government’s stance on the spate of recent terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, saying active terrorists will either be sent to jail or jahannum (hell). Replying to a supplementary question posted by Congress MP Pramod Tiwari, the minister said the terrorists will not succeed in their design and their activities will soon end. Nityanand Rai said the Narendra Modi government has zero tolerance for terrorism. He said over the past few days, 28 terrorists had been killed by security forces in the union territory. “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. He said incidents of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir came down from 7,217 during the UPA’s rule to 2259 in July this year. “These should not have happened. It is unfortunate but they (the Opposition) should not do politics over it,” the minister said. 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 a reduction of 69 per cent in terror incidents. “In the last few days, 28 terrorists have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir. What’s saddening is that some of our soldiers have also been killed in the firefighting. The soldiers killed are very less than the terrorists neutralized,” he said. “In 2023, 2 crore 11 thousand tourists have visited Jammu and Kashmir. Peace has been restored there, which is why tourists are increasing,” he added.Per the minister, a total of 1,08,41,009 tourists visited Jammu and Kashmir between January to June 2024 and 2,11,24,674 in 2023– all-time high so far– followed by the visit of 1,88,64,332 tourists in 2022, 1,13,14,884 in 2021 and 34,70,834 tourists in 2020. The Modi-led Central government had cancelled the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into two union territories. The government says the decision brought terrorism under control. However, the Opposition has questioned the Centre’s claims after recent terror incidents.