Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday urged people across the country to fully support the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, saying the exercise is necessary to protect India and its democracy. Speaking at the Border Security Force’s 61st Raising Day event in Haripur, Bhuj, he said the goal of the revision was to ensure that “every single infiltrator” is removed from the voter list. Shah said,“Mein aaj yeh yeh spasht karna chahta hu ki hum is desh mein se ek ek ghuspetiye ko chun chun kar bahar nikalenge, yeh humara pran hai (Today I want to make it clear that we will remove every infiltrator from this country. This is our pledge. The SIR is a process to protect the country and our democracy.)
Shah criticised what he called certain political parties in the INDIA bloc for trying to weaken the campaign against infiltrators. Without naming them directly, he said these parties were opposing the SIR exercise and the Election Commission’s efforts to clean up voter lists. He added that the results of the recent Bihar elections had already given a mandate in favour of the NDA. Shah said, “Some political parties are trying to weaken the campaign to eliminate infiltrators. They are opposing the SIR process. I want to tell them that the Bihar elections are a mandate from the people.”
He appealed to citizens to cooperate fully with the Election Commission during the revision. “I want to appeal to the people of the country to support the SIR process. This is necessary for the safety of our democracy,” he said.
Shah also praised the BSF and the Indian Army for their role in Operation Sindoor. He said their strong response forced Pakistan to announce a unilateral ceasefire within days. According to him, the operation proved to the world that India’s border forces cannot be taken lightly. He said, “Because of the bravery of the BSF and the army, Pakistan declared a ceasefire. This showed the world that anyone who challenges India’s security forces will face consequences.”
The BSF, which is the world’s largest border guarding force with over 2.7 lakh personnel, has been protecting India’s borders for more than sixty years. It currently has 193 battalions and seven artillery regiments guarding the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The force was created in 1965 after the India-Pakistan war and has expanded over the years to handle security challenges in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and the northeastern states.
