LS passes J&K Reorganisation Bill, Amit shah says historic blunder corrected

The Lower House passed the Bill reorganising Jammu and Kashmir by two-thirds majority in its favour. It also passed Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Bill.

With the passage of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, this session of the Lok Sabha comes to an end sine die.

In his reply to the debate on revoking Article 370 in the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: "Article 370 had put doubts in the mind of people that Kashmir is a part of India."

"What have the people of Jammu and Kashmir got from Article 370--nothing," said Amit Shah adding: "It has only encouraged terrorism."

Shah stated, "I want to state that J&K is an inalienable part of India. There are no two versions about that."

Shah said that for 70 years, people of India have harboured this aspiration in their hearts that Kashmir must be an integral part of India. Article 370 was the only roadblock to realize this goal. He thanked the Prime Minister for this historic step to remove this roadblock for ever.

He said a historic blunder has been corrected and a new Kashmir would be built out of the scrapping of the Article 370.

"Article 370 hurt development in Jammu and Kashmir. It was against women and Dalits. It helped terrorists," said he.

Shah alleged that three families benefitted from the condition in Kashmir.

"Three families have ruled Kashmir. The hullaballoo over scrapping Article 370 is because Modi government has Anti-Corruption Bureau to investigate," he said.

Shah further said that those who favour article 370 are in opposition to the Prevention of Child Marriage Act which could not be applied to J&K due to article 370.

"Similarly other laws like Right to Education, Land Accusation Act, Multiple Disability Act, Senior Citizens act, Delimitation act, Whistle Blower Protection act, laws enacted for empowerment of tribals, National Commission for Minorities, National Council for Teacher Education, among others, could not be applied to J&K," said he.

Congress stand:

While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi finally broke his silence on the matter and alleged that national integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, the party was embarrassed earlier in the day by its senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

In what is seen as a major faux pas in Parliament on behalf of the Congress, Lok Sabha Opposition leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury raised a question on whether Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter of the country leading to a heated argument with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Parliament.

Addressing the lower house of parliament, Adhir said, "I am doubtful so I want to know. You are saying that Article 370 is an internal matter. You have also bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir. But I want to know whether Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter as the state was being monitored by the United Nations since 1948 and also we did Shimla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. Few days ago, S Jaishankar (External Affairs Minister) told the US that Kashmir is our bilateral matter. Even after all these, can Jammu and Kashmir be an internal matter?"

Earlier in the day, Rahul tweeted, "National integration isn’t furthered by unilaterally tearing apart J&K, imprisoning elected representatives and violating our Constitution. This nation is made by its people, not plots of land. This abuse of executive power has grave implications for our national security."

He also demanded the immediate release of the mainstream Kashmiri leaders likes former Chief Ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.

He called the arrest of the leaders as 'unconstituional and undemocratic'.

"Kashmir’s mainstream political leaders have been jailed at secret locations. This is unconstitutional & undemocratic. It’s also short sighted and foolish because it will allow terrorists to fill the leadership vaccum created by GOI. The imprisoned leaders must be released," he tweeted.

However, surprising everyone, Congress leader Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Tuesday announced that he supports the government's decision to scrap special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Taking to Twitter, he wrote: "I support the move on #JammuAndKashmir & #Ladakh and its full integration into union of India. Would have been better if constitutional process had been followed. No questions could have been raised then. Nevertheless, this is in our country’s interest and I support this."

India Government Decision:

In a landmark day which witnessed day-long debates, the Rajya Sabha on Monday passed the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 which proposes to bifurcate the terror-hit northern state into two Union Territories - J&K, a Union Territory with Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh, a UT without Legislative Assembly.

Also the Modi government scrapped Article 35 A and Article 370 which were used to give Jammu and Kashmir a special status.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution allows the Jammu and Kashmir state's legislature to define “permanent residents” of the state and also provides special rights and privileges to those permanent residents.

Article 370 allows Jammu and Kashmir to have its own constitution, flag and right to handle its own laws except on matters that impact national security.

The Bill will soon become a law with the clearance of both the Houses of the Parliament.