On Wednesday (6th December), Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the two bills related to Jammu and Kashmir that the Union government introduced in parliament are geared at providing justice to those who have been denied their rights for more than 70 years. During a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah criticized the Congress while not naming the party, asserting that the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits could have been avoided if terrorism had been dealt with without regard for vote-bank politics.
While defending the bills, he stated that the two bills would provide representation to those who were forced to flee Kashmir due to terrorism. Amit Shah reported to the House that one seat in the Kashmir assembly would be reserved for those displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He also stated that one of the two bills would nominate two members of the Kashmiri migrant community to the assembly.
“When they (Kashmiri Pandits) were displaced, they were forced to live as refugees in their country. Around 46,631 families were displaced in their own country. This Bill is to get them rights, this Bill is to give them representation,” he said.
पहले जम्मू में 37 सीटें थीं, अब 43 हैं।
— BJP (@BJP4India) December 6, 2023
कश्मीर में पहले 46 थीं, अब 47 हैं और PoK में 24 सीटें हमने रिजर्व रखी हैं, क्योंकि PoK हमारा है।
– श्री @AmitShah
पूरा वीडियो देखें: https://t.co/HJ51i7r48D pic.twitter.com/hTgtlDUhOS
“Had terrorism been tackled at the beginning without considering vote-bank politics, Kashmiri Pandits wouldn’t have had to leave the valley,” he added. He also declared that 24 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly would be reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK), which belongs to India.
Amit Shah stated while tabling the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2023 in the House that Jammu previously had 37 seats but now has 43. Meanwhile, Kashmir has 47 seats, up from 46.
Further criticizing the Congress party, Shah said that those responsible for stopping the exodus were enjoying vacations in England. “There was an era of terrorism (in Jammu and Kashmir) after the 1980s and it was a horrifying scene. Those who lived on the land considering it their country, were thrown out and no one cared about them, neither did they try to stop it. Those who were responsible for stopping it were enjoying vacations in England,” he added.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26, 2023, aims to modify the reservation act of the union territory. Members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other backward classes would be given preference in jobs and educational institutions under this bill. It provides social and educational reservations to people living in backward villages and similar areas along the Line of Control and International Border.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which facilitated the reorganisation of the erstwhile state into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. This amendment proposes to increase the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly from 83 to 90, of which seven would be reserved for scheduled caste members and nine seats for legislators from scheduled tribes.
The bill also empowers the Lieutenant Governor to appoint up to two members of the Kashmiri migrant community, including one woman, to the assembly. Persons who moved from the Kashmir Valley or any other part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after November 1, 1989, and have registered with the Relief Commissioner are considered migrants. Additionally, one member representing displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir may be nominated.
