Article 370 gave impetus to separatism in J-K: Amit Shah on day of SC's verdict
Dec 11, 2023
New Delhi [India], December 11 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that Article 370, which was abrogated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in 2019, gave impetus to separatism in Jammu and Kashmir which led to killings of several people.
The Union Home Minister's remarks came on the day when the Supreme Court upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which conferred the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.
"We should understand that 42,000 people were killed. Why were they killed? It is not a question of Hindus and Muslims. There are more Muslims in Gujarat (than in Kashmir), and there are more Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Assam states. Why did separatism not happen there? There is no question of boundary either. Rajasthan and Gujarat share their boundaries with Pakistan too. Why it happened (only in J-K). (It was) because Article 370 gave impetus to separatism which led to terrorism," he said, while replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha on the two bills-- The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2023 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill 2023-- which were passed by the Lok Sabha on December 7.
Shah also took a jibe at the opposition saying that if they continue to stick to the Article 370 issue, then their 'numbers' in Parliament will plummet even further.
"If you continue to stick to the issue of the Article 370 abrogation, then not even this many, you are left, will be left. The people of the country are seeing. In 2024, there will be a square-off, and the public's result will also come and Modi Ji will also become Prime Minister for the third time," he cautioned the Opposition.
Earlier today, a five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai, and Surya Kant upheld the Union government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution and said that every decision taken by the Centre on behalf of a State can't be subject to a legal challenge.
Supreme Court said that it has held that Article 370 was a temporary provision.
"The proclamation of Maharaja stated that the Constitution of India will supersede. With this, the para of Instrument of Accession ceases to exist.... Article 370 was an interim arrangement due to war conditions in the State. Textual reading also indicates that Article 370 is a temporary provision," the Court said.
Meanwhile, while replying to the debate on the two bills on J-K, Amit Shah said that everyone has supported all the elements of the bills unanimously.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26, 2023. It amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act of 2004.
The Act provides for reservation in jobs and admission in professional institutions to members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other socially and educationally backward classes.
The other seeks to insert new sections 15A and 15B in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 to nominate not more than two members, one of whom shall be a woman, from the community of "Kashmiri Migrants" and one member from "Displaced Persons from Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir", to the Jammu and Kashmir assembly.
The two bills on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation, aimed at providing "rights to those who faced injustice" and were deprived of their rights in the Union Territory, cleared their last legislative hurdle later today after they were passed in the Rajya Sabha.
