Will do whatever required to protect religions that worship nature: Shah

Union Minister Amit Shah on Saturday assured countrymen that the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will strive to protect religions that worship nature at any cost.

Addressing the 13th Triennial Conference of the All Bathou Mahasabha in Tezpur, Assam, Shah said, "Nothing is greater than nature. The Narendra Modi government will leave no stone unturned to protect and promote religions that worship nature, particularly those in the Northeast. We will do whatever is required to protect them."

Also launching a blistering attack on the Congress, the Union Home Minister said that the party's policy in the Bodoland region was aimed at distracting and deflecting public attention from the main issues plaguing the state and keeping hold of power even as thousands of youths lost their lives.

"The Bodoland movement had a history to it. Our brothers and sisters from the Bodo community waged a long and massive struggle to protect their culture, roots, traditions and land. It was because of the Congress's policies, which were aimed at taking people's focus away from the bread and butter issues facing the state and remaining in power, that thousands of youths lost their lives. Some lost their brothers, some their fathers and some others their wives," Shah said.

Reminding the audience that the Bodo Peace Accord was signed under PM Narendra Modi's leadership, Shah said not a single incident of violence was seen or reported in Bodoloand over the last three years.

"Under the leadership of PM Modi, the Bodo Peace Accord was signed and the transformation of the region ever since is for all to see. Now, peace and harmony prevail in the region, with its violent past now a distant memory. Not even one incident of violence was reported in Bodoland in the last 3 years. It is well and truly on the road to development and progress," the Union Home Minister said.

"The transformation of Bodoland also testifies to PM Modi's vision to take development forward and establish peace in the Northeast," Shah added.

Quoting numbers to back his claim of the decline of violence in the Northeast, Shah said, "Incidents of violence in the Northeast have come down by 73 per cent while deaths of security personnel are down by 71 per cent. The deaths of citizens have also come down by 86 per cent."

Shah said that in the nine years of the BJP-NDA rule under PM Modi, nine peace treaties were signed and as many as 9000 youths left the path of violence, returning to the mainstream.

"We signed nine peace treaties in the last nine years, enabling about 9,000 youths to lay down their arms and return to the mainstream. I would like to especially thank Pramod Boro (chief executive member of the Bodoland Territorial Council) for this," he said.

The Union Minister also urged the people of Bodoland to practice their religion without any fear of encumbrances and carry forward their traditions.

"The central government and the Assam government are working to strengthen ethnic religious beliefs and practices here. I would urge you all to go about your ways and practise your religions and carry forward your traditions without any fears," Shah said.