Removal of Article 370 will end terrorism in Kashmir: Amit Shah

Tamil superstar Rajnikanth also hailed the NDA government and congratulated Shah over his speech in the Parliament. “Heartful congratulations to  Amit Shah. The way he conducted it and the speech he delivered in Parliament is fantastic,” he said, adding that “Amit shah-Modi combination is like Krishna-Arjuna.”

On Monday, the Home Minister announced the government’s decision to revoke the special status granted to Jammu and Kashmir and secured Rajya Sabha’s approval for a Bill to bifurcate the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature similar to Puducherry, and Ladakh without one like Chandigarh-through a Presidential order.

#WATCH Amit Shah:As a legislator,I firmly believe Art370 should’ve been removed long ago. As a Home Minister,there was no confusion in my mind about the consequences of removing Art370. I’m confident terrorism in Kashmir will finish&it’ll move ahead on the path of development now pic.twitter.com/YWyW5xJJs1

— ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2019

The Bill was passed with a two-thirds majority of the members present in Rajya Sabha. The next day, the Lok Sabha adopted the resolution scrapping the special status. The bifurcation Bill was also cleared by the Parliament. With special provisions gone, Indian laws will now apply to the newly created Union Territories.

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that elections will soon be held in the new Union Territory and people will have the opportunity to elect their MLAs and Chief Minister in the manner they did earlier. Underlining that Article 370 had brought no benefit to the state but had only fomented separatism, terrorism, dynasty and corruption, Modi said it is now “part of history” and an era of development will start in J&K. He urged the industry, including the film industry, to invest in the region and provide job opportunities to the youth.

While tabling the bill, Shah had said, “Article 370 was a temporary provision… how long can a temporary provision be allowed to continue… After abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir will truly become an integral part of India.” Saying Article 370 was at the root of terrorism, Shah told the House that full state status will be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time when normalcy returns.

“It was heaven on earth and will remain so… Give us five years, and we will make Jammu and Kashmir the most developed state in the country… I want to tell the youth of Kashmir Valley that have faith in Narendra Modi government. Nothing negative will happen. All these (Opposition) people are telling you lies for their own politics. Don’t listen to them,” he said after outrage over the sudden move by Opposition members.