Amit Shah
Blaming Jawaharlal Nehru for Pakistan occupying part of Jammu and Kashmir which belongs to India, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that due to the “two blunders” of the former Prime Minister, Kashmir had to “suffer for years.”
While replying to a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha, Shah noted that Nehru made “two blunders”– declared a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir (during India-Pakistan war in 1Shah asserted that if Nehru had taken the right steps, PoK would be an integral part of India today.
“I support the word that was used here — Nehruvian blunder. Because of the blunder that was committed during the time of Nehru, Kashmir had to suffer. With responsibility, I want to say that the two blunders that happened during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru, due to his decisions, because of which Kashmir had to suffer for years. The first is to declare a ceasefire – when our army was winning, the ceasefire was imposed. If there had been a ceasefire after three days, PoK would have been a part of India today…The second is to take our internal issue to the UN,” Shah said.
During the debate, the Home Minister also said that the root cause of terrorism in the region was nothing but Article 370, which was abrogated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2019.
“During the 1994-2004 period, a total of 40,164 incidents of terrorism were registered. During the 2004-2014 period, a total of 7,217 incidents of terrorism took place. During the 2014-2023 period, under the Narendra Modi government, the total incidents of terrorism registered have been around 2,000, which marks a 70 per cent reduction in the incidents of terrorism. That is why I was right in saying that the root cause of separatism, the root cause of terrorism was nothing but Article 370,” he said.
The Home Minister, during his address in the lower house, reaffirmed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of the country. He said that the Delimitation Commission, set up by the Centre for the delimitation of asssembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, has reserved 24 seats for PoK.
“The Delimitation (Commission) went everywhere in J-K. The representatives of several communities, including Kashmiri migrants and people displaced in PoK, had submitted applications to them regarding their representation in state assembly. I am happy that the commission has taken cognizance of this and the (then) Election Commissioner of India has nominated two seats in state assembly for Kashmiri migrants and one seat for a person displaced in PoK, which has been occupied unauthorizedly by Pakistan,” Shah said.
“Earlier there were 37 seats in Jammu (division), now there are 43. Earlier there were 46 in Kashmir, now there are 47. And 24 seats for PoK have been reserved, Kyuki Woh Hamara Hai (because PoK is ours),” he added.
During the debate, Shah also said that these bills pertain to bringing justice to those against whom injustice was done. He said that, as per figures, around 46,631 families and 1,57,967 people were displaced in their own country. “This bill is to give them rights and representation,” he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004. It was enacted to provide for reservation in appointment and admission in professional institutions for the members of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and other socially and educationally backward classes.
The bill seeks to amend Section 2 of the Reservation Act to change the nomenclature of “weak and under privileged classes (social castes)” to “other backward classes” and make consequential amendments.
The other bill seeks to provide representation to “Kashmiri Migrants”, “Displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir” and Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir “to preserve their political rights as well as for their overall social and economic development”.
It seeks to insert new sections 15A and 15B in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 to nominate not more than two members, one of whom shall be a woman, from the community of “Kashmiri Migrants” and one Member from “Displaced Persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir”, to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Twenty-nine members participated in the debate on the bills.
(ANI)
