New Delhi : The two measures on Jammu and Kashmir, according to Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday, aim to propose two members of the Kashmiri Migrant community—one of whom is a woman—to the assembly.
During a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2023 in the Lok Sabha, he made the statement.
He said that those who have been displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir will have one seat reserved in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature.
He also said that more than 45,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir so far.
The Home Minister said that the government’s focus was on ending the terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir.
He said a plan to have “zero terror incidents” in Jammu and Kashmir is in force for three years and it will be successful by 2026.
“I believe Modi government will return to power in 2024 and by 2026, I hope there will be no terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir,” Shah said.
He also said that 24 seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly had been reserved for Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) as they belong to India.
It used to have 37 seats, but now Jammu has 43. Kashmir, which formerly had 46 seats, now has 47,” he declared.
He stated that 24 seats have been set aside for PoK because we think PoK is ours.
According to him, the J&K assembly will have 114 seats, up from the previous 107 seats. Five members are now up for nomination, as opposed to the previous two.
“They were compelled to live as refugees in their own nation after being uprooted, the Kashmiri Pandits. In their own nation, about 46,631 households were uprooted. This Bill aims to grant them legal rights. “This bill will provide them with representation,” he declared.
According to Shah, the measures were intended to provide justice to those who had been denied it for the last 70 years. A noteworthy law concerning Jammu and Kashmir aims to propose two members of the Kashmiri migrant community, one of whom is a woman, for election to the assembly.
He added that the delimitation was included in the historic proposals to abolish Article 370 that were introduced on August 5 and 6. This is what made it possible, he said.
He claimed that many people questioned whether terrorism had stopped with the repeal of Article 370.
Shah claimed that the two laws will provide “justice” to individuals who have been denied rights for the past 70 years and that the displaced people will have a voice in the legislature thanks to the reservation.
He said that had terrorism been tackled at the beginning without considering vote-bank politics, Kashmiri Pandits would not have had to leave Kashmir Valley.
He said one of the bills seeks to give “representation in the assembly to those who had to leave Kashmir due to terrorism”.
Shah also slammed the Congress for talking about backward classes, saying that if any party has harmed 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.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill were passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
