Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : Moments after the resolution to revoke Article 370 and a Bill to bifurcate Jammu and Kashmir was moved by Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the House witnessed a spat between him and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.
Chowdhury questioned how Kashmir was an “internal matter” if the United Nations is monitoring it since 1948. The remarks by the leader of Congress in the Lok Sabha were in contrast to India’s position on Kashmir.
He made a statement that goes completely against India’s long-established stand on Kashmir.
He said the government had thrown rules out of the window by proposing to create two union territories out of Jammu and Kashmir.
“You (government) say that it is an internal matter. But it is being monitored by the UN since 1948. Is that an internal matter? We signed the Simla Agreement and Lahore Declaration. Was that an internal matter or bilateral?” he asked.
He went on to say that the “entire Congress party” wanted to know the government’s response.
“S Jaishankar told Mike Pompeo a few days ago that Kashmir is a bilateral matter, so don’t interfere in it. Can J&K still be an internal matter? We want to know. Entire Congress wants to be enlightened,” he said.
This provoked the Home Minister who told Chowdhury not to make a “general statement”, saying Parliament was the biggest panchayat of the country and its proceedings were being watched by people across the world.
Hitting back, Shah said not only is Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India, but it also included Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
“Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of Union of India. Kashmir ki seema mein PoK bhi aata hai… Jaan de denge iske liye! (PoK comes under Kashmir, we will die for it),” Shah said.
“General statements should not be made. This is the biggest panchayat of the country. Please tell us which rules have been violated. I will respond to them,” the minister said, raising his pitch.
The matter did not stop there. The Congress leader further sought clarification on how the United Nations was monitoring Kashmir if the region was an internal issue.
Shah instantly intervened and sought to know what was the Congress stand on whether the UN could monitor Kashmir.
The minister repeatedly asked Chowdhury to make his party’s stand clear on the issue whether he was supporting abrogation of Article 370 and the Bill or not.
Raising objections, the TMC also staged a walkout.
The Home Minister said the government was using the Parliament route to bring the changes in the state because the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was not in place.
Amid repeated disruptions in the Lok Sabha, Shah said nobody could stop the government from introducing a resolution on Kashmir in Parliament.
As the Lok Sabha debated the government’s resolution to scrap Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and a Bill to bifurcate the state, the absence of lawmaker from Kashmir Farooq Abdullah was raised in the House.
Shah moved the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019, the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the resolution revoking Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in the Lok Sabha.
The Home Minister said: “Kashmir is an integral part of India, there is no doubt about it. Nobody can stop us from introducing a resolution on Kashmir in Parliament.”
To repeated interruptions from the Opposition benches, he also said: “When I talk about Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Aksai Chin are included in it.”
“There has been a long-standing demand for UT status for Ladakh and we have fulfilled it now,” said Shah, adding that when situation normalised Jammu and Kashmir could again become a state.
BJP MP from Jammu, Jugal Kishore Sharma, said Article 370 is a blot on history and had completely isolated the state. “What has Article 370 given us? Jawaharlal Nehru forced Article 370 on India,” he said.
