Asserting that the Supreme Court verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 proved the position of the government to be correct, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Rajya Sabha Monday that the government and the BJP would take full responsibility for the decision in times to come. He blamed Article 370 for fuelling separatism, which, he said, spawned terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, unlike other states like Rajasthan and Gujarat bordering Pakistan, and added that now stones in the hands of young people have been replaced by laptops. Shah was speaking on the two Bills relating to Jammu and Kashmir, which now stand cleared by both Houses of Parliament. He said that a number of measures for the benefit of OBCs, SCs, STs and other groups that applied to other states were not hitherto applicable to Jammu and Kashmir because of Article 370. He again blamed Nehru for accepting the ceasefire brokered by the UN without taking the whole of the erstwhile princely state from Pakistani invaders in 1948. Attacking the Opposition for questioning the abrogation of Article 370 till recently, Shah said that those who called the provision a permanent rather than a temporary one – the apex court has now clarified that it was temporary – had insulted the Constitution and the Constituent Assembly. Targeting the Opposition for taking solace from the apex court’s instruction to hold elections and restore statehood to the state, Shah said that he had himself said both things would be done at an appropriate time, adding that the Opposition had mastered the art of seeing an utter defeat as a victory. Shah, while speaking on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation and Reorganisation Bills passed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, said that the decision of the Supreme Court validated the processes followed by the government for abrogation of Article 370. He said the SC accepted the announcement of the President’s rule. “When the temporary provision was made, the question arose that if it is temporary then how would it be removed? So, a provision was inserted inside Article 370 (3) that the President can amend Article 370 and can also take it completely out of the Constitution." He went on to say, “If Article 370 was so fair, so needful, then why would Nehru ji use the word temporary in front of it? Those who say that Article 370 is permanent are insulting the intention of the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution.” Shah said that when it came to J&K, even Nehru accepted his mistake. Quoting from documents from the Prime Minister’s Museum and Society at Teen Murti, he said that Nehru in his own words had said that there was no hope of a satisfactory outcome at the UN and though he thought that the ceasefire was a good decision at the time, it should have been taken later. Shah said Nehru wrote that these were “mistakes of the past”. Shah asked the Congress why they would not accept that it was a mistake when Nehru himself did. Replying to members who said that without Nehru India would not have J&K on its side, Shah said that without him this Bill would not be needed. He said that there were problems in Hyderabad, Junagarh, Lakshadweep and Jodhpur, but Nehru did not go there, while Sardar Patel did. Shah said that the only place Nehru went to, he left the task half done. Replying to the remarks by RJD’s Manoj Jha that if history asks 40 years later who would be responsible for the abrogation of Article 370, Shah said that he and his government took responsibility for the decision. He said that neither Modi, nor the Cabinet, nor the party can run away from it. “We have to own it,” he asserted. Shah said that there were nearly 41,000 families who came from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) during the three wars with Pakistan in 1948, 1965 and 1971. They will now have 24 seats reserved in the Assembly, he added. “We believe PoK is ours and nobody can take it from us,” Shah said amid cheers from the treasury benches. Shah said that between 2004 and 2014, there were 7,217 terrorist incidents, which reduced to 2,197 in the last 10 years. He said during the UPA government nearly 3,000 security personnel and citizens died, which has dropped to 891 in the last 10 years. There were 2,654 incidents of stone pelting in 2010; there were none in 2023, added Shah. There was no one killed or injured due to these incidents in 2023, but 112 people were killed and 6,235 injured in 2010, said Shah. Shah said that while militants were welcome to lay down arms to join the mainstream, families of stone pelters, terrorists and those aiding terror have now been debarred from government jobs. He said that several provisions such as reservation in education and jobs, ST reservation in the Assembly, Right to Education, SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and Whistleblowers Protection Act would be applicable in Jammu and Kashmir now because of the abrogation. He said Acts such as the one on whistleblower protection were linked to reducing corruption. Din in House, Opp walks out amid Shah reply New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha Monday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation and Reorganisation Bill in the absence of Opposition members, who walked out of the House while Union Home Minister Amit Shah replied. One of the key issues raised by the Opposition members was the provision allowing the Lieutenant Governor to nominate members to Parliament. They also demanded an election be held at the earliest. The SC decision on Monday was hailed as victory by both the ruling party and Opposition members during the discussion on the Bills. Congress member from MP Vivek Tanka said the court’s decision of granting statehood and conducting elections in 2024 was a “win for the people of Kashmir”. AAP Member Sanjeev Arora demanded that the elections in J&K be held along with the general elections. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took a dig at the government support for the movie Kashmir Files. —Express News Service
