If terrorism rises again, will force the snake out of its hole and crush it: PM Modi in Bihar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that India will 'force the snake of terrorism out of its hole and crush it' if it raises its head again.
Addressing a public gathering at Vikramganj in Bihar's Rohtas district, he weaved his speech around the success of Operation Sindoor, in which India struck terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir earlier this month as a response to the terror attack in Pahalgam that left 26 civilians dead.
He recalled announcing during his last visit to the state that the hideouts of the terrorists who carried out the April 22 attack in Pahalgam would be busted, and said that India's defence forces had achieved that with Operation Sindoor.
'Sasaram (the district headquarters of Rohtas) has the word 'Ram' in it. Ram's policy had been one of pran jaaye par vachan na jaaye (Promises must be kept even at if life is at stake). Ram's riti (the ways of Ram) are now India's niti (policy). India's fight against terrorism will not stop. I had promised from Bihar that those who had widowed our sisters during the Pahalgam attack would be taken to task. Our defence forces have destroyed the hideouts of terrorists,' he said in Rohtas on Friday.
He also inaugurated and launched development projects worth Rs 48,500 crore, including three road and railway projects each and two phases of the Nabinagar thermal power project at Aurangabad.
With Assembly elections coming up in Bihar later this year, Modi cautioned people against a return of jungle raj and 'fake claims' of social justice. 'Those who had done little for the poor and the backward, those who had forced the people of Bihar to leave the state, are now talking of social justice,' he said.
The Prime Minister had arrived in Patna on Thursday on his two-day Bihar trip. After landing at Patna airport, he had opened a new terminal to the public, and also virtually flagged off construction and development of Bihta airport, which is slated to come up near the state capital. The PM then held a five-km roadshow from the airport to the state BJP headquarters in Patna.
Santosh Singh is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express since June 2008. He covers Bihar with main focus on politics, society and governance. Investigative and explanatory stories are also his forte. Singh has 25 years of experience in print journalism covering Bihar, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
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