Jammu and Kashmir now looks forward to being changed and developed as the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill and Jammu and Kashmir (Reservation) Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha, just days after the two bills were passed in Lok Sabha. Witnessing the clearing of the bills through voice vote, Home Minister Amit Shah assured the citizens of Bharat that the passing of the bill paves way for a region which will be developed and will be free from terrorism in the coming years.
The J&K Reservation Bill will amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004. One seat in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be reserved for people displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and for the first time, nine seats will be reserved for SC/ST communities. The J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 will provide for the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature), and Ladakh (without legislature).
These two bills, according to Minister Shah, would provide justice to those who have been deprived of their rights for the last 75 years, while also providing reservations to the displaced people by giving them voice in the legislature.
Highlighting the Supreme Court of Bharat’s major verdict on Abrogation of Article 370, where it upheld Centre’s decision, Amit Shah roared in Rajya Sabha that the apex court’s verdict shows that Centre decision was in the right direction. He added that just like the abrogation of Article 370, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the government will make sure to take full responsibility for their decisions in the times to come.
Minister Shah blamed Article 370 for fuelling separatism, which spawned terrorism in J&K, unlike Rajasthan and Gujarat, which also share its border with Pakistan. He added that it was due to Article 370, that measures for the benefit of OBCs, STs, and SCs could not apply to Jammu and Kashmir, and people in the region were not able to benefit from it.
Similar to his stance in Lok Sabha last week, on Monday in Rajya Sabha as well, Amit Shah criticised former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for accepting the ceasefire brokered by the United Nations prior to conquering the whole of erstwhile princely state from the Pakistani invaders in 1948.
He reminded the Opposition party MPs that even Nehru accepted his mistake of ordering a ceasefire in J&K. Quoting Nehru from documents from the Prime Ministers Museum and Society at Teen Murti, Shah said Nehru himself said that there was no hope of a satisfactory outcome at the UN, and though ceasefire was a good decision, it should have been taken later.
Furthermore, Minister Amit Shah denounced the Opposition leaders for questioning the Abrogation of Article 370 uptil now. He added that SC’s verdict also clarified that introduction of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was temporary, saying that those who say that the article is “permanent” are insulting the intention of the Constituent Assembly and the Constitution.
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