NEW DELHI: The opposition political parties took the central government head on in Lok Sabha and described the proposed amendment bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir as violation of the provisions contained in the Constitution of India and Representation of Peoples Act.
Most of the opposition leaders, who participated in the discussion on two bills concerning J&K Reservation (Amendment) Act and J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Act described them as “illegal” for the reason that the decision of the Supreme Court on abrogation of Article 370 that granted special status to J&K was pending. They said that the matters related to change of status of J&K were sub-judice in the apex court.
The opposition MPs questioned the legality of the bills in the absence of an elected legislature in Jammu and Kashmir. They also debunked the claims of the central government about restoration of normalcy after abrogation of Article 370 and questioned why elections were not being held when they have overdue for more than five years.
The opposition MPs questioned the motives of the central government for not holding elections to the J&K Legislative Assembly in near future. They questioned the BJP-government why no elections have been held since 2014, when the last electoral process was undertaken.
Half a dozen MPs, who spoke on the issues, wanted to know legality of the process of delimitation by virtue of which Lok Sabha constituencies have been redrawn in terms of their boundaries and increasing the number of Assembly segments without involving the people of J&K.
TMC MP Prof Sougata Roy said he had taught in a college named after Mukherjee and ‘ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan‘ was his slogan and it was a ‘political slogan’.
Sougata Roy made these remarks during the discussion on The Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 in Lok Sabha.
“Let me start with the situation in Jammu and Kashmir since Amit Shah took over as Home Minister. One of the major steps taken by him was to abrogate Article 370 and then convert the states of Jammu and Kashmir to Union Territories. First Jammu and Kashmir and second, Ladakh. Earlier, Union Territories were converted into States and here, Amit Shah converted the states into Union Territories. What have you achieved?” he added.
“If there is no Legislative Assembly, then why are you making the changes? Have a Legislative Assembly and then make it. I don’t know what the hurry is; the hurry should be to hold the elections in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.
“They abrogated Article 370 just to fulfil the BJP promise: ‘Ek Pradhan, Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan’ (One Prime Minister, one flag and one Constitution). This was the slogan at the time of Shayama Prasad, this is not for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as this was a political statement and was his slogan,” he said.
Syama Prasad Mukherjee was India’s first Minister for Industry and Supply and Deputy Home Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s cabinet.
Intervening in the discussion, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that earlier in Jammu and Kashmir, there were stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir but today there are no such incidents.
“Earlier there were stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir. Today there are no such incidents. Today, not only at Lal Chowk but the Indian flag is hoisted in every lane in Kashmir,” Thakur said.
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.
How can country have two PMs, two constitutions and two flags? Amit Shah
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha that the central government has ensured the country has just one flag and Constitution in an apparent reference to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.
Shah asserted that the concept of ‘one flag, one prime minister, one Constitution’ was not a political slogan and the Bharatiya Janata Party firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.
Responding to a remark by Trinamool Congress’ Saugata Roy that ‘ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan (one flag, one head, one Constitution)’ was a ‘political slogan’, Shah wondered as to how can a country have two prime ministers, two constitutions and two flags.
During the discussion on the bills related to J&K, Shah said Prof Sougata Roy’s remarks were ‘objectionable’.
While responding to a remark from the opposition benches, Shah said, “Whosoever did it was wrong. Narendra Modi has corrected it. Your approval or disagreement do not matter. The entire country wanted it.”
This comment was made in an apparent reference to the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of Indian Constitution related to Jammu and Kashmir.
He went on to state that ‘one symbol, one head, one Constitution’ was not an election slogan.
“We had been saying since 1950 that a country should have one PM, one flag and one Constitution and not two and we have done it.”
Soon after Prof Sougata Roy ended his speech on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said while the TMC leader mentioned Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he should have also recalled his sacrifice.
Why no elections in J&K? asks Farooq Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah demanded an explanation from the BJP-led Centre for the absence of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Jamyang Tsering Namgyal stated that peace in Jammu and Kashmir is “more important” than elections.
He stated that after the repeal of Article 370, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved and investments have begun to flow in.
Intervening, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that while it is tragic when security personnel are murdered, the opposition should not forget that 45,000 people perished in Jammu and Kashmir during the 70-year tyranny.
Hasnain Masoodi on J&K Bills
Hasnain Masoodi, a National Conference (NC) MP, has also called for early elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
He stated that the administration should tell the country the reality rather than spreading the idea of normality in Jammu and Kashmir.
Masoodi further claimed that unemployment in the Union Territory is rising.
Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) also called for early elections, saying the government should present a comprehensive bill on reservation to address the expectations of people across the country.
Kaushalendra Kumar of the Janata Dal-United requested that Assembly elections be held in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The matter of constitutional morality of the J&K Reorganisation (Amendment) Act 2019 given that the Principal bill is still under challenge in the Supreme Court of India. In light of this, the tabling of an amendment to the said act is against all tenets of Constitutional Morality,” he said in a post on ‘X’ (Formerly Twitter).
Participating in the debate, Congress leader Manish Tewari inquired about the election and when Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood will be restored.
He questioned why polls are not being held at a time when the treasury benches say that normality has been restored in Jammu and Kashmir.
Tewari further stated that constitutional propriety requires the government to desist from enacting these laws while a case involving the Constitution (Amendment) Act pertaining to the repeal of Article 370 is pending before the Supreme Court.
Home Minister Amit Shah, who was present during the discussion, stated that he will respond in depth to all of the problems highlighted by opposition members.
A heated debate ensued between Congress MP Manish Tewari and Home Minister Amit Shah in Lok Sabha over Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
“Manish Tiwari ji, an intellectual advocate doesn’t know if he analyzes everything before debating it or suddenly, he was given this to debate. I can’t understand but a person who is an advocate should not like this,” said Shah.
To this, Manish Tewari said, “I respect Amit Shah ji but as far as I know, a section of Constitution of India has nothing to do with a state budget.”
Owaisi opposes J&K Bills
Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi opposed both the bills saying they were in violation of Constitution of India and Representation of Peoples Act during the Lok Sabha discussion on The Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 & The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
NCP (Sharad Pawar) faction MP Supriya Sule, amid the Maratha quota agitation in Maharashtra, asked for a discussion on pan-India reservation.
She was speaking amid the deliberations on the two J&K amendment bills, one of which talks about reservation for the people of the union territory.
She also remembered late BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj for their contributions to Indian politics.
“Today, I miss Arun Jaitely and Sushma Swaraj… they were the only BJP leaders who advocated for the cooperative federalism,” Sule said.
Asked about the Centre’s reservation bill for Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti alleged that all such exercises are “illegal”.
“All of this is illegal because the revocation of Article 370 (of the Constitution) was done in an illegal manner and the matter is sub-judice in the Supreme Court. When something is sub-judice, how can they make a law on it? This is illegal, they are trampling the Constitution, Parliament and the Supreme Court. They are trampling every institution of the country,” Mufti said in a statement in Srinagar.
Overview of bills related to J&K
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 key features of the Bill comprise socially and educationally backward classes that include people residing in villages declared as socially and educationally backwards by the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, people residing in areas adjoining the Actual Line of Control and International Border, and weak and under-privileged classes (social castes), as notified.
The government may make inclusions or exclusions from the category of weak and under-privileged classes, on the recommendations of a Commission.
The Bill substitutes weak and under-privileged classes with other backward classes as declared by the UT of Jammu and Kashmir. The definition of weak and underprivileged classes is deleted from the Act.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on July 26, 2023. The Bill amends the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019. The Act provides for the reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir (with legislature) and Ladakh (without legislature).
The Second Schedule of the Representation of the People Act of 1950 provides for the number of seats in legislative assemblies. The 2019 Act amended the Second Schedule of the 1950 Act to specify the total number of seats in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly to be 83.
It reserved six seats for Scheduled Castes. No seats were reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The Bill increases the total number of seats to 90. It also reserves seven seats for Scheduled Castes and nine seats for Scheduled Tribes.
The Bill adds that the Lieutenant Governor may nominate up to two members from the Kashmiri migrant community to the Legislative Assembly. One of the nominated members must be a 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.
Migrants also include individuals who have not been registered due to being in government service in any moving office, having left for work, or possessing immovable property at the place from where they migrated but are unable to reside there due to disturbed conditions.
The Bill adds that the Lieutenant Governor may nominate to the Legislative Assembly one member representing displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Displaced persons refer to individuals who left or were displaced from their place of residence in Pakistani-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and continue to reside outside such place.
Such displacement should have taken place in 1947-48, 1965, or 1971 due to civil disturbances or fear of such disturbances. These include successors-in-interest of such persons.
Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the government is ready to hold Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir whenever the Election Commission (EC) makes a final judgement on the topic.
Intervening in the debate over the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, the minister of state in the prime minister’s office (PMO) stated, “whenever the EC announces it (Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election), we are ready.” He stated this in response to opposition parties’ call for early Assembly elections in the Union Territory.
“The EC has its own mechanism of gathering inputs according to its requirements and it will take a final call. Let us all trust the wisdom of the EC and not appear to be interfering in its functioning,” Singh said.
He went on to say that democracy must reach the grassroots, and that in the future, “we will do” what is best for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh blamed the Kashmir crisis on Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister after independence.
He further stated that the Congress should be grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for repealing the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution that granted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir special status.
Singh stated that a number of initiatives have been implemented to guarantee development in the Union Territory.
(The news article has been updated)
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