LS passes J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill

Seeks nomination of 2 members from Kashmiri Migrants, 1 from displaced persons from PoK

STATE TIMES NEWS

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly.
The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to change the nomenclature of a section of people who are eligible for quota in appointment and admission.
The bills were passed after more than six hours of debate spanning over two days and a spirited reply by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Home Minister said the two bills related to Jammu and Kashmir brought by the government will give justice to those deprived of their rights for the last 70 years and asserted that reservation to the displaced people will give them a voice in the legislature.

Shah pointed out that one of the two bills on Jammu and Kashmir seek to nominate two Kashmiri Migrant community members, including a woman, to the assembly. One seat in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly will be set aside for people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the home minister said. He said after the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, there will be 43 assembly seats in Jammu region — up from present 37 — and in Kashmir Valley it will be 47 from 46. As many as 24 seats will be kept for the residents of PoK, he said. Talking about the abrogation of Article 370, Shah said it had nothing to do with going back on promise as it was a temporary article and had to go. “You did not have the courage, PM Narendra Modi showed courage and did away with it,” he said, referring to the opposition benches. More than 45,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir so far, he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill seeks to change the nomenclature of “weak and underprivileged classes” to “Other Backward Classes”. The Union Territory, which has the provision for a legislative assembly, is currently under central rule.

J&K suffered due to Nehru’s 2 major blunders: Amit Shah
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday blamed India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “two major blunders” — declaring a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations — for the sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
As Shah trained his guns on Nehru while replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Congress’ leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury interjected alleging that when it comes to the Kashmir issue, BJP leaders unnecessarily criticise Nehru.
Chowdhury asserted that Congress leaders were tired of listening to this kind of criticism and asserted that he was verbally demanding that a daylong debate be held on Kashmir and Nehru. In his speech, Shah said if Nehru had taken the right steps, a large chunk of territory would not have been ceded and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would have been part of India. “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 big blunders that happened during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru, happened due to his decisions, because of which Kashmir had to suffer for years,” Shah said.
“Kashmir had to suffer due to Nehruvian blunders. One was that when our Army was winning and as soon as Punjab area was reached, ceasefire was declared and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was born. If the ceasefire would have been (declared) three days later, PoK would have been part of India,” the home minister said.
The ceasefire made without winning the entire Kashmir was one “blunder” and the other was taking the issue to the UN, he alleged.
There was an uproar by the opposition benches over the remarks on Nehru and they staged a walkout but returned later.
After their walkout, BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said the home minister should also talk about the “Himalayan blunder”, a reference to Nehru’s actions leading up to the war with China in 1962. Shah quipped that his talking about two blunders had upset the opposition benches and if he had used the phrase “Himalayan blunder”, they would have resigned.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the remarks made were not an insult to anyone and were only made to put things in context.
In his remarks, Shah also alleged that the Kashmir matter was taken to the UN in a hurry.
“If at all it had to be taken to the UN, it should have been sent under Article 51 rather than Article 35 of the UN Charter,” he said, asserting that he of course believes that the issue should not have been taken to the UN in the first place.
Shah also quoted Nehru as saying later that the ceasefire was a “mistake”. Shah added that it was not Nehru’s mistake but a blunder. The Home Minister also said that the Congress has done the “greatest harm” to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) over the years and done nothing for their welfare.
Shah alleged that historically, the Congress has opposed the welfare of the backward classes and has only resorted to lip-service for such communities.
He said Narendra Modi was born into a poor family and became the prime minister and he knows the pain of the backward classes and the poor. Shah said the government’s focus was on ending the terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
Shah said the Congress has done the “greatest harm” to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) over the years and done nothing for their welfare and asserted that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has relentlessly worked for their overall development.
The home minister also lashed out at the opposition party, saying if any party has harmed backward classes and come in the way of their growth, it is the Congress.
“The Congress has done greatest harm to OBCs. The party has done nothing for the welfare of the OBCs. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has been working relentlessly for the welfare of backward classes,” he said.
Shah alleged that historically, the Congress has opposed the welfare of the backward classes and has only resorted to lip-service for such communities. The Congress only chants the name of backward classes but does not support any welfare measures for them, he claimed. “I say this with full responsibility, this is the historic truth. If any party has opposed the welfare of the backward classes, then it is the Congress,” he said.
The home minister said it was the Congress government that had delayed the report of the Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission, which was set up to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.
“Many Congress leaders chant ‘backward class’. Then there are some who are given a piece of paper and they keep reading it for six months until handed over a fresh piece of paper. They visit gram sabhas chanting the name of backward classes. They do not know what their party has done. Who sat on the Kaka Kalelkar report,” he said. Shah said even the Mandal Commission report granting reservation to the OBCs was implemented when the Congress was voted out of power. “Then too it was the then leader of the opposition — Rajiv Gandhi — who had opposed the move,” he said. His sharp attack on the Congress over the OBC issue came against the backdrop of the grand old party making caste census an issue during the assembly elections to five states, which were held last month. The Congress lost the elections in key states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Since the election results on Sunday, the BJP has been attacking the Congress for trying to divide the country on caste and religious lines. Congress-led governments have never bothered to grant Constitutional status to the OBC Commission, Shah said. “The Congress never granted reservation to OBCs in central education schemes,” he said. Shah asserted it was under Modi’s leadership that OBCs were granted reservation in Sainik schools, NEET and in central schools to study with dignity. Prime Minister Modi also ensured 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections from unreserved classes, he said.

Modi will return to power in 2024; terror will end in J&K by 2026
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to power after the 2024 general elections and hoped that by 2026, terrorism will be completely eliminated from Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said the government’s focus is on ending the ecosystem which has been aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for years.
He said with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, separatism has ended in the Union Territory and terrorism has reduced significantly.
“I believe the Modi government will return to power in 2024 and I hope there will be no terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir in 2026,” he said.
The home minister said a plan to have zero terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir is in force for the last three years and it will be successful by 2026. He blamed the previous governments for the continuous terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for a long period of time and said had terrorism been tackled at the beginning “without considering vote-bank politics”, Kashmiri Pandits wouldn’t have had to leave the valley. Shah said 45,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir so far.
He also gave statistics on the reduction of terror related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and said in 2023, there has not been a single stone pelting incident, nor there was a call for ‘hartal’. “Every month, the home ministry reviews the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in every three months, I visit Jammu and Kashmir and review the situation there,” he said. The home minister said people who used to say what happened in Jammu and Kashmir are cut off from the ground situation and obviously they would not know what changes have happened in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Those holidaying in England will not notice any change in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said. Shah said when terrorism started in Kashmir, people were targeted and they had to flee. “I have seen many leaders who shed crocodile tears and consoled well with words. But Modi is the only leader who has worked to wipe out their tears,” he said. He said about 46,631 families and 1,57,967 people were displaced in their own country and were displaced in such a way that they were uprooted from their own homeland and this bill is going to give them rights and representation. He said after the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir, there will be 43 assembly seats in Jammu region — up from present 37 — and in Kashmir Valley it will be 47 from 46.