PM Modi has shown India’s blood not meant to be shed: Amit Shah in Lucknow

Grand ceremony for distribution of appointment letters to 60,244 police personnel held at Lucknow’s Defence Expo Ground

India retaliated with surgical strike, air strike and razed the headquarters of terrorists to the ground whenever Pakistan tried to attack or carry out terror activities in the country during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the past 11 years, Union home minister Amit Shah said in Lucknow on Sunday.

Union home minister Amit Shah at the appointment letter distribution programme in Lucknow on Sunday. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries were also present. (Deepak Gupta/HT Photo)

Addressing a public gathering, Shah said the prime minister has sent a strong message to Pakistan that India’s blood is not meant to be shed, and whoever does dare (to do so) will be punished for it.

He mentioned Operation Sindoor which targeted and destroyed terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir in May after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.

Shah was in the Uttar Pradesh capital to attend the ceremony to hand over appointment letters to 60,244 newly selected police constables.

He handed over appointment letters to 15 candidates during the event and congratulated all those selected.

Shah attacked the Congress for not being able to curb terrorist attacks across the country during the UPA-led years before 2014.

“Don’t forget my words that the country will be free from Naxalism by March 31, 2026,” he said.

Operation Sindoor was a response by India to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir in April. The attack killed 26 people, mostly tourists. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 with the Indian armed forces carrying out targeted strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resulting in the deaths of over 100 terrorists linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizbul Mujahideen.

Meanwhile, in Chhattisgarh and its border areas, security forces have been carrying out multiple operations in which various Naxal leaders have been killed in the recent months. On May 21, an encounter in the forests of the Boter village resulted in the elimination of 27 Naxals.

The two most high-profile cases in the recent months have been the neutralisation of CPI (Maoist) general secretary and politburo member Basavaraju alias Gaganna and also Central Committee member Gautam (alias Sudhakar) and Bhaskar.

According to government data, there has been a 53% drop in the incidents of Naxal violence over the last 10 years between 2014 and 2024, compared to the decade before.

Between 2004 and 2014, the data mentions, there were 16,463 incidents of Naxal violence. However, from 2014 to 2024, the number dropped to 7,744.

As per the officials in the security establishment, the reduction in Naxal violence reflects “the success of intensified counter-insurgency operations and strategic policies by security forces.”

Besides chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the other notable persons present on the occasion were deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, UP BJP president Chaudhary Bhupendra Singh, ministers Suresh Khanna, Swatantra Dev Singh, Surya Pratap Shahi, Baby Rani Maurya, Ashish Patel, Om Prakash Rajbhar, chief secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, DGP Rajeev Krishna and principal secretary (Home) Sanjay Prasad, among others.