What about Kashmiri Pandits' return, Cong asks Amit Shah

The Lok Sabha on Friday (June 28) passed a resolution to extend the President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir by another six months.

After Amit Shah moved the resolution for President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, he blamed India’s first Prime Minister Nehru for the Kashmir crisis, drawing vociferous opposition from Congress members in the House.

In response, leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury sought to know what the government’s plan was with regard to bringing back Kashmiri Pandits, who were driven out of the state during the period of militancy. He also asked when the government would bring back gangster Dawood Ibrahim.

Shah did not respond to Chowdhury, but assured the House that restoring democracy and eliminating terrorism from the state was his government’s priority and the Centre would serve the state with a big heart.

“If we have to give something extra, we shall. The Narendra Modi government will serve the state with a big heart because they have suffered a lot,” Shah said in Lok Sabha.

Shah also said the Modi government has zero tolerance to terrorism and had brought it down in the last five years.

Speaking on the resolution, he drew strong opposition from the Congress for blaming Nehru for the Kashmir crisis. Tracing India’s history during independence, he asked, “Today, one-third of Jammu and Kashmir is not in our control. Who is responsible for that?”

Shah also sought to know why Kashmir was not united with India when several other kingdoms were brought into the Union by Sardar Patel.

He also said that Article 370 is temporary in nature, not permanent.

Opposing the resolution, Congress’s  Manish Tewari opposed the move to extend President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir, citing a “sense of alienation” among the people of the state, which he claimed had increased under the BJP government.

Tewari said the “root cause” of imposition of Governor’s rule in the state was the PDP-BJP coalition, which was “an alliance of ideologically incompatible people.”

It is “not in the interest of people in the state and the country” that Governor’s rule should continue in the state, the Congress leader said, adding, “An elected government in Jammu and Kashmir will help the Centre in its fight against terrorism there.”

Earlier, Shah, while moving the resolution, said the government had hit at the roots of terrorism and it is essential that the President’s Rule be extended for another six months with effect from July 3, 2019.

President’s rule was imposed on December 20, 2018, six months after Governor’s rule was imposed following BJP’s withdrawal of support to the coalition government headed by PDP.

The state has seen bloodshed in previous elections, but things have changed, he said and urged the members to rise above party lines to support the resolution.

He said the state’s assembly had been dissolved and as the Election Commission has decided to conduct assembly elections at the end of the year, now it is mandatory to extend the Presidents rule.

He said as no political party came forward to prove majority in the legislature last year in June after the BJP withdrew its support from the PDP.

Hitting out at the opposition to the President’s rule, he said there should be fear in the minds of people who think against India. Slamming the Congress, he blamed the grand old party for not taking strong action on terrorism, promoting separatists and dismissing elected governments.

This is the first proposal Shah has moved in the Lok Sabha after being appointed as the Home Minister in the second tenure of the Narendra Modi government.

Maintaining that he and his party were not opposed to the Centre’s fight against terrorism, Tewari said, “The fight against terrorism cannot be won when people are not with you.”

Cautioning the government, he said it should not take such steps which alienate the people of the state.

Participating in the debate, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi sought to know whether Amit Shah would hold talks with Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq who had expressed his willingness for the “meaningful” dialogue.

Owaisi accused the government of creating a fear mindset and polarising people by raising the issue of Article 370 of the Constitution that gives autonomous status to Jammu and Kashmir.

(With inputs from agencies)