‘Had terrorism been tackled in beginning, KPs won’t have migrated’
Two major blunders by Nehru responsible for people’s miseries
Those holidaying in England will not notice any change in UT
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 6: The Lok Sabha today passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community including a woman and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) to the UT Legislative Assembly after reply to debate by Union Home Minister Amit Shah who said the bills will give justice to those deprived of their rights for last 70 years. He said Kashmiri Pandits would not have to leave the Kashmir valley had terrorism been tackled at the beginning without considering vote-bank politics.
The Lok Sabha also passed another bill seeking to change nomenclature of reservation from Other Social Castes (OSC) to Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The bills were passed after more than six hours of debate spanning over two days and a spirited reply by Amit Shah in which he declared that Narendra Modi Government will return to power in 2024 and expressed confidence that there will be no terror incidents in Jammu and Kashmir by 2026. He also blamed first Prime Minister of the country 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.
Replying to debate on the twin bills in Lok Sabha that lasted two days, this afternoon, Shah declared that the bills will give justice to those deprived of their rights for last 70 years and reservation to the displaced people will give them a voice in the Legislature.
“Had terrorism been tackled at the beginning without considering vote-bank politics, Kashmiri Pandits would not have had to leave Kashmir valley,” Shah said. One of the bills, it may be mentioned, provides nomination of two Kashmiri Pandits including one woman to the Legislative Assembly of J&K.
Shah said Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir is part of India and hence 24 seats have been kept reserved for the region in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly.
He said after the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir to redraw Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies, there will be 43 Assembly seats in Jammu region — up from present 37 — and 47 in Kashmir valley, up from 46.
“As many as 24 seats have been kept for PoJK because the region is our own,” he said.
Shah also lashed out at the Congress for just talking about backward classes, saying that if any party has opposed backward classes and come in the way of their growth, it is the Congress. 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.
It may be mentioned here that there was no reservation to OBCs in Jammu and Kashmir like other States and UTs where they enjoy 27 percent reservation. However, four percent reservation was given to Other Social Castes (OSCs). Now, OSCs will be replaced by OBCs and percentage of reservation will also be enhanced.
During debate, Shah declared that 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. A plan to have a zero terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir is in force for the last three years and it will be successful by 2026, he added.
“The Government’s focus is on ending the ecosystem which has been aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for years. And with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, separatism has ended in the Union Territory and terrorism has reduced significantly,” the Home Minister said.
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’.
Shah said every month, the Home Ministry reviews the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in every three months, he visits Jammu and Kashmir and review the situation there.
“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 added.
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.
Shah also blamed first PM 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.
“Had Nehru taken the right steps, a large chunk of territory would not have been ceded and Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir would have been part of India,” the Home Minister said.
“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 Jammu Kashmir was born. If the ceasefire would have been (declared) three days later, PoJK 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.
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.
Shah said 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”. He added that it was not Nehru’s mistake but a blunder.
“So much land of this country was lost, it was a historic blunder,” the Home Minister added.
Referring to abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir, 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.
Shah said the Congress has done the “greatest harm” to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) over the years and done nothing for their welfare. He asserted that it is Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has relentlessly worked for their overall development.
“Modi was born into a poor family and became the Prime Minister, and he knows the pain of the backward classes and the poor,” he added.
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 said.
“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.
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.
Shah said that in 1947, 31,779 families were displaced from PoJK to Jammu and Kashmir and out of these, 26,319 families started living in J&K while 5,460 families left for other parts of the country. He said that after the wars of 1965 and 1971, 10,065 families were displaced. Overall, 41,844 families were displaced.
“On August 5-6, 2019, Narendra Modi listened to the voices of these displaced people which were not paid attention in earlier decades and gave them their rights,” he said, adding that judicial delimitation was part of the bill passed on August 5 and 6, 2019.
He said that Delimitation Commission, delimitation and demarcated Assembly are the core of democracy and process of deciding the unit for electing people’s representatives. If the process of delimitation itself is not sacred, then democracy can never remain sacred, that is why a provision has been made in this bill that Judicial Delimitation will be done again.
In response to the question raised by some opposition members about the legitimacy of giving reservation to the displaced people, Shah said that this is a bill to give rights and representation to the displaced people of Kashmir. By giving reservation to displaced Kashmiri, they will have voice in the Kashmir Assembly and if a situation of displacement arises again, they themselves will stop it.
“When Pandits migrated from Kashmir, their property was confiscated and they were forced to sell their land at throwaway prices, in a way their property was snatched away and the administration remained silent and did not take any step,” he said.
Shah said that the Government led by Narendra Modi made a new law to provide justice in this matter and by implementing it with retrospective effect, the people were given back their property.
Shah said that the opposition leaders who talk about backward class in public meetings should tell the public that who withheld the Kaka Kalelkar Commission report. After the Mandal Commission report came, it was not implemented until they were in power and even when it was implemented later, the leader of the opposition opposed it.
He said that the opposition never provided reservation to backward classes under the Central Admission Scheme.
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