Oppn MPs demand polls, restoration of Statehood
*Shah hits out at Adhir Ranjan, Saugata Roy
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 12: Lok Sabha today passed a bill granted 33 percent reservation to women in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly which was introduced in the House in the morning by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on behalf of Union Home Minister Amit Shah followed by debate and reply by the MoS Home.
Shah strongly countered the arguments put forth by Leader of Congress Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and TMC MP Saugata Roy in the House.
Replying to a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, Nityanand Rai said the twin measures will enable greater representation and participation of women as public representatives in law-making processes in the Legislative Assemblies of Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry.
With Lok Sabha giving nod to the bill, it will now go to Rajya Sabha for debate and approval followed by the President’s assent before becoming a law.
“Post revocation of Article 370, widow pension has reached 100 per cent saturation coverage in Jammu and Kashmir and one-stop centres for the benefit of women have come up in every district of the Union Territory,’’ Rai said.
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The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill seeks to provide reservation for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir that came into force following the enactment of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023.
The law is expected to come into force after 2029 as it will take some time before being implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise will be required for identification of constituencies to be reserved for women, both in Lok Sabha as well as J&K Assembly.
The bill will ensure that there are at least 29 to 30 women in the House of 90 besides five nominated MLAs.
As soon as Rai introduced the bill, TMC MP Saugata Roy objected to its introduction referring to yesterday’s judgment of the Supreme Court which upheld abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India that granted special status to erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Supreme Court has directed that Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir should be held before September 2024. So, unless the elections are announced by the Election Commission of India, there is no hurry to pass the Women Reservation bill,’’ Roy said.
“Consequent to the enactment of the Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, similar provisions for providing reservation for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are also required to be made by Parliament by amending the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the statement of object and reasons attached to the Women Reservation Bill.
The bill seeks to enable greater representation and participation of women as public representatives in law-making processes in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lok Sabha also witnessed some heated moments as Home Minister Amit Shah took exception to Saugata Roy referring to the repeal of Article 370, the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and Uniform Civil Code as BJP’s “communal and divisive agenda”.
Shah countered saying the Ram temple was built as per directions of the Supreme Court and repeal of Article 370 has also been endorsed by the apex court.
“Do you wish to say that the Supreme Court is pursuing a communal agenda?”, Shah countered.
UCC has been placed by Constitution-makers in the Directive Principles, he said.
“Do you mean to say that our Constitution-makers were also pursuing a communal agenda?” the Home Minister asked.
The Lok Sabha also witnessed a spat between Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Shah, with the Congress leader seeking a timeline from the Government on getting back Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK).
Chowdhury asked whether the Government will be able to reclaim PoJK before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Let us assume that Congress did nothing but you are strong and powerful. You should snatch back PoJK. We want to see if you can get it before the elections… You make tall claims inside the House…,” Adhir said.
Hitting back at Chowdhury, Shah said, “I want to ask under whose term did we lose Aksaichin and PoJK.’’
The issue of PoJK was also raised by Saugata Roy, after which Shah retorted; “Under Congress’ design, West Bengal would have also been part of Bangladesh…It was Syama Prasad Mukherjee who ensured that it didn’t.”
Participating in debate on the bill, National Conference MP from South Kashmir Hasnain Masoodi alleged that the Centre has given the powers to bureaucrats to rule Jammu and Kashmir.
“The Central Government is claiming normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir but that is “half-truth”. Why are you running from holding elections?” he asked.
A number of Lok Sabha members from the Opposition who participated in discussion on the bills demanded holding of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
BJP MP from Jammu Lok Sabha seat Jugal Kishore Sharma welcomed the bill saying it will empower the women. He extended thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the bill.
NCP MP of the Sharad Pawar faction Supriya Sule said the Centre should hold assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and restore its Statehood at the earliest.
Referring to yesterday’s judgement by the Supreme Court on Article 370, Sule said elections must be held within the stipulated time and sought to know by when the Centre would restore Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
Kaushalendra Kumar, Janata Dal (United) MP also raised the issue of Assembly elections saying the people of the UT should get the right to choose their Government.
He demanded that the Union Territory of Ladakh should also get Statehood.
Congress Lok Sabha member Gurjeet Singh Aujla too flagged the matter while Shiv Sena leader Krupal Balaji Tumane demanded Uniform Civil Code in the country.
The other members who participated in the discussions include N K Premachandran of RSP, Jaskaur Meena of the BJP, Arvind Sawant from Shiv Sena (UBT), Malook Nagar of the BSP, and Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJD.
The bill means 29 or 30 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will be reserved for women after 2029 when provisions of the legislation will come into effect.
Within 33 percent reservation to women, there will be reservation to SC and ST women. Already, seven seats have been reserved for SCs and nine for STs in the J&K Assembly.
When 33 percent reservation for women will come into effect, nearly 50 percent seats in the UT Assembly will be reserved as already nine seats (10 percent of the total 90) are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs) and seven seats (eight percent) are reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs).
J&K will have 90 elected MLAs (47 from Kashmir division and 43 in Jammu division) plus five nominated MLAs including two women, two Kashmiri Pandits, one of them a woman, and a Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) refugee.
Besides, 24 seats are reserved for PoJK taking total strength of the Legislative Assembly to 119.
When the provisions of women reservation are made applicable to the Lok Sabha, one or two out of five LS seats in Jammu and Kashmir will also be reserved for the women, the sources said.
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