Defending the bills, Amit Shah said the two bills will provide representation to those who had to leave Kashmir because of terrorism.
Agencies/JK News Today
New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the two bills linked to Jammu and Kashmir that were tabled by the Union government in the parliament, are aimed at providing justice to those deprived of their rights for over 70 years. Speaking during the debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah attacked the Congress without naming the party, saying the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits could have been averted had terrorism been tackled without consideration for vote-bank politics.
Defending the bills, he said the two bills will provide representation to those who had to leave Kashmir because of terrorism.
Amit Shah informed the House that one seat in the Kashmir assembly will be reserved for those displaced from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He said one of the two bills will also nominate two people from 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.
“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 said 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. In fact, 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, seeks to amend the union territory’s reservation act. This bill seeks to provide reservation in jobs and educational institutions to members of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes.
It provides reservation to socially and educationally backward people living in backward villages and those living like areas on the Line of Control and International Border.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill allows the Lieutenant Governor to nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the assembly, including one woman. Migrants are defined as persons who migrated from the Kashmir Valley or any other part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after November 1, 1989 and are registered with the Relief Commissioner.
