India won't be safe till its borders are secure: Union Home Minister Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticized the previous West Bengal administration for failing to provide land for border fencing. He emphasized the importance of national security and praised the current state leadership for their cooperation.
Why it matters
The statement highlights ongoing political friction between the central government and state administrations regarding border security and national identity.
Asserting that neither West Bengal nor India will be safe until its frontiers are secured, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday (August 21lamented that despite repeated requests, previous Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not provide land required for fencing the India-Bangladesh border in the State.
Stating that no previous CMs of the State ever attended programmes of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) or the BSF, Mr. Shah congratulated Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari for breaking the glass ceiling.
"My desperate pleas to Mamata Banerjee for land to set up border fences by the BSF fell on deaf ears. I had been asking for 1,129 acres of land to strengthen border security since 2014. We received the land parcel only after the Adhikari government was formed in the state," Mr. Shah said at a programme for groundbreaking and foundation stone laying ceremonies of various SSB projects at its frontier headquarters in Siliguri.
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