NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah again targetted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and blamed him for Pakistan’s illegal occupation of a portion of Kashmir, known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Shah was speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. “Jahan tak tang nazariye ka sawaal hai, desh ki ek bhi inch zameen ka sawaal hai, humara nazariya tang rahega, hum dil bada nahi kar sakte. No one has the right to give away a section of our land to show off their big heart,” Shah said. Shah also gave a reference to Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and said that it was due to Sardar Patel’s intervention that the Indian Army was sent when Kashmir was being invaded by the Pakistanis. “I want to give a reference to Sam Manekshaw. He said at one place that when the Pakistanis were attacking Kashmir, then he was busy in discussions (don’t want to name the person). Sam Manekshaw was present at a meeting in which Sardar Patel told Nehru, “Do you want Kashmir or not?” Then the decision to send the army was taken. If there was no ceasefire at an appropriate time, PoK would not have been there. Why was the matter taken to the UN?” Shah said. The Home Minister also quoted Nehru’s one of quotes in which he “accepted his mistake” of taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations, and said, “After the experience of United Nations, I have come to the conclusions that no satisfactory results can be expected from there. I considered the ceasefire decision a good one, but we could not deal with this matter well. We should have had more thoughts on the ceasefire and taken it late. Though, these are the mistakes of the past.” This quote is of Jawaharlal Nehru. Unko toh manoge ya nahi manoge ki unhone galti ki. Accept this…(Nehru himself is accepting that he did a mistake)”. “The Supreme Court has affirmed that Article 370 was a temporary provision in the Indian Constitution. I would like to pose a question to those who adhere to Nehru’s philosophy: If Article 370 was extremely important, why did Nehru himself use the term ‘Temporary’ in relation to the article? Everyone who says that Article 370 is permanent is insulting the Constitution!” Shah added. He further said that Manoj Jha questioned that if history asks after 40 years, who will be responsible? “They say that if history asks after 40 years, who will be responsible? I tell you, for two centuries, if the decision of Article 370 (abrogation) is wrong, it would be of my government, my decision would be wrong. PM Modi has taken this decision, neither he can run away from it, nor our Cabinet, nor our party. Responsibility has to be owned. When big decisions are taken, then they have to be owned as well and we have to answer to the country as well. History does not pardon anybody,” Shah added. RJD MP Manoj Jha said, “I just said that there is no elected MP from Kashmir but he (Amit Shah) took it to somewhere else…The kind of speech Home Minister Amit Shah gave today lacked dignity… So our LoP Mallikarjun Kharge decided that we should walk out of the Parliament.” Shah noted that there are several States which share border with Pakistan, but are not influenced by terrorism on the other side of the border. He said that Kashmir was affected by terrorism due to the presence of Article 370. “42,000 people lost their lives, and it was not about their religious identity, whether they were Hindu or Muslim. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar have larger Muslim populations than Kashmir. It wasn’t a border issue either… Gujarat shares a border with Pakistan. So, why did separatism flourish in J-K? It was because Article 370 played a role in enabling and encouraging it,” he said. Highlighting that the people of the country are watching the Congress, Shah asserted that PM Modi will return as the Prime Minister in 2024. “If you want to stick to this decision even today, public is watching – there will be face off in 2024 and PM Modi will become the PM for the third time,” he said. In Lok Sabha last week, Shah said that Nehru made two big mistakes due to which Kashmir had to suffer for many years. “The Supreme Court has affirmed that Article 370 was a temporary provision in the Indian Constitution. I would like to pose a question to those who adhere to Nehru’s philosophy: If Article 370 was extremely important, why did Nehru himself use the term ‘Temporary’ in relation to the article? Everyone who says that Article 370 is permanent is insulting the Constitution!” he added. The Home Minister, during his address in the Upper House, reaffirmed that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir is part of the country. “24 seats have been reserved in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. I am saying this again Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir is ours and no one can take it from us,” Home Minister said. “Earlier there were 37 seats in Jammu, now after the new delimitation commission, there are 43 seats. Earlier there were 46 in Kashmir, now there are 47 and in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, 24 seats have been reserved since we PoK is ours,” he added. The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 were passed by Lok Sabha last week.
