Bold decisions needed for people's benefit without worrying of backlash: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that some bold decisions were necessary for the people's benefit without getting bogged down by the fear of backlash and noted that a single bullet has been not been fired in Jammu and Kashmir since the repeal of Article 370.

Addressing the probationers of the 2018 batch of the Indian Police Service (IPS) here, Shah said the notion that only the Article 370 protected the Kashmiri culture and identity was wrong.

He said all regional identities were inherently protected by the Indian Constitution and termed the misuse of Article 370 the root cause of cross border terrorism.

Article 370, which gave special powers to Jammu and Kashmir, was repealed in August.

According to an official release, Shah asserted that some bold decisions are necessary to be made for people's benefit, without getting bogged down by the fear of a backlash.

"He cited the example of Jammu and Kashmir and said that not a single bullet had been fired or not a single person had died of it after the abrogation of Article 370," the release said.

He noted that only 10 police stations of Kashmir, out of 196, have Section 144 in force.