'PoK is ours, 24 seats reserved': Home Minister Amit Shah tells Lok Sabha
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday that the Delimitation Commission has reserved 24 seats for Pakistan occupied Kashmir. His comments came during a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
- Dec 7, 2023,
- Updated Dec 7, 2023 9:25 AM IST
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that 24 seats have been reserved for Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the territory "is ours". The Home Minister was speaking in the Parliament during a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Lok Sabha passed these two bills on Wednesday. During this debate, he said that the Delimitation Commission has reserved 24 seats for Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Centre has set up a Delimitation Commission for the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also said that Jammu had 37 seats earlier but now it has 43 where Kashmir had 46 seats previously but now has 47. "Earlier, there were 37 seats in Jammu, now there are 43. Earlier there were 46 in Kashmir, now there are 47 and in PoK, 24 seats have been reserved since PoK is ours," Shah said in the Parliament.
He further noted that there will now be 5 nominated members in the J&K Assembly with the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. "Earlier, two women were nominated by the Governor in the state assembly. And now, two of the Kashmiri migrants, out of whom one must be a woman, and one person from PoK," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
During the course of this discussion, Amit Shah also seized the opportunity to take aim at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, holding the late Prime Minister of India responsible for the PoK issue. "The problem of Pakistan occupied Kashmir occurred because of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Otherwise, that part would have belonged to Kashmir. Nehruji was responsible for POK," he said.
He also noted that Pandit Nehru reportedly said that the handling of the PoK issue was "his mistake". "Nehruji said it was his mistake. It was not a mistake. It was a blunder to lose so much land of this country," Shah roared in the Lok Sabha.
While Shah made these remarks on the first Prime Minister of India, several Congress MPs walked out of the Parliament. Reacting to the Congress MPs walking out, Shah said that had he used the word 'Himalayan' to describe Nehru's blunders, "they would have resigned and left."
As per Shah, Jammu and Kashmir suffered due to two major "blunders" by Nehru. These were announcing the ceasefire and taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations. "If there had been a ceasefire after three days, PoK would have been a part of India today... The second is to take our internal issue to the UN," he noted.
Not only this, he also blamed the Congress for the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s. Shah noted that the exodus could have been averted if there would have been no vote bank politics.
"When terrorism tightened its grip, when everyone started being targeted and driven away, many people expressed their so-called concerns over this. Many people shed crocodile tears over the poor state of the victims, and many people consoled them with good words," Shah said.
(With inputs from ANI, Poulomi Saha)
Also Read: 'I regret it': DMK MP on controversial 'Gaumutra' remark in Parliament Winter session
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday told the Lok Sabha that 24 seats have been reserved for Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the territory "is ours". The Home Minister was speaking in the Parliament during a debate on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023.
The Lok Sabha passed these two bills on Wednesday. During this debate, he said that the Delimitation Commission has reserved 24 seats for Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Centre has set up a Delimitation Commission for the delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.
He also said that Jammu had 37 seats earlier but now it has 43 where Kashmir had 46 seats previously but now has 47. "Earlier, there were 37 seats in Jammu, now there are 43. Earlier there were 46 in Kashmir, now there are 47 and in PoK, 24 seats have been reserved since PoK is ours," Shah said in the Parliament.
He further noted that there will now be 5 nominated members in the J&K Assembly with the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. "Earlier, two women were nominated by the Governor in the state assembly. And now, two of the Kashmiri migrants, out of whom one must be a woman, and one person from PoK," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
During the course of this discussion, Amit Shah also seized the opportunity to take aim at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, holding the late Prime Minister of India responsible for the PoK issue. "The problem of Pakistan occupied Kashmir occurred because of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Otherwise, that part would have belonged to Kashmir. Nehruji was responsible for POK," he said.
He also noted that Pandit Nehru reportedly said that the handling of the PoK issue was "his mistake". "Nehruji said it was his mistake. It was not a mistake. It was a blunder to lose so much land of this country," Shah roared in the Lok Sabha.
While Shah made these remarks on the first Prime Minister of India, several Congress MPs walked out of the Parliament. Reacting to the Congress MPs walking out, Shah said that had he used the word 'Himalayan' to describe Nehru's blunders, "they would have resigned and left."
As per Shah, Jammu and Kashmir suffered due to two major "blunders" by Nehru. These were announcing the ceasefire and taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations. "If there had been a ceasefire after three days, PoK would have been a part of India today... The second is to take our internal issue to the UN," he noted.
Not only this, he also blamed the Congress for the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits in the early 1990s. Shah noted that the exodus could have been averted if there would have been no vote bank politics.
"When terrorism tightened its grip, when everyone started being targeted and driven away, many people expressed their so-called concerns over this. Many people shed crocodile tears over the poor state of the victims, and many people consoled them with good words," Shah said.
(With inputs from ANI, Poulomi Saha)
Also Read: 'I regret it': DMK MP on controversial 'Gaumutra' remark in Parliament Winter session