The Lok Sabha today (6th December 2023) passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill,2023 which seeks to nominate two members from the Kashmiri migrant community and one representing the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to the legislative assembly.
The House also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill,2023 which seeks to change the nomenclature of a section of people who are eligible for quota in appointment and admission.
The Bills were passed after more than six hours of debate spanning over two days followed by a spirited reply by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The home minister said the two bills related to Jammu and Kashmir brought by the government will give justice to those deprived of their rights for the last 70 years and asserted that reservation to the displaced people will give them a voice in the legislature.
He said that Jammu and Kashmir has suffered due to two blunders committed by the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru – first announcing ceasefire and then taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.
Had Jawaharlal Nehru taken right steps, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would have been part of India now. It was a historic blunder, he said.
The Home Minister said a plan to have zero terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir has been in force for the last three years and it will be successful by 2026 when there will be no violence.
Shah said that had terrorism been tackled in the beginning without considering vote-bank politics, Kashmiri Pandits would not have had to leave the Kashmir Valley.
He said one of the bills seeks to give representation in the Assembly to those who had to leave Kashmir due to terrorism.
He said the bills were aimed at providing justice to the people who were deprived for the last 70 years.
Shah also lashed out at the Congress for talking about backward classes, saying that if any party has opposed backward classes and come in the way of their growth, it is the Congress.
He said Narendra Modi was born into a poor family and became the prime minister and he knows the pain of the backward classes and the deprived.
D N V Senthil Kumar of DMK apologised in the Lok Sabha for his controversial ‘north-south divide’ remark which had sparked a backlash.
Senthil Kumar on Tuesday (5th December 2023) used a pejorative to describe Hindi heartland states while attacking the ruling BJP. His comments led to ruckus and adjournment in the House, which were expunged by Speaker Om Birla later.
MPs from the ruling BJP also created a ruckus over the issue, and the House witnessed a brief adjournment during the Question Hour over the issue.
At 12 noon, when the House reassembled for the Zero Hour, Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal raised the issue, and asked if DMK leader TR Baalu, and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi agree with the comments.
Voters have made BJP victorious in three states, and this is what they say. This is the thinking of dividing India in North and South but the government will not allow it, he said.
Baalu, who raised the issue of floods caused by Cyclone Michaung in Tamil Nadu and demanded that the Centre declare it as a national calamity, said the remarks made by Kumar were not correct.
Statement made by Senthil Kumar was not correct and Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin has warned the particular member, Baalu said.
Soon after, Kumar expressed regret over the comment.
He said the remarks were made inadvertently and if they have hurt the sentiments of people, he withdraws them.
The DMK MP had earlier tendered an apology for his comments yesterday.
While participating in a discussion on Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in the House yesterday Kumar had said the BJP can win elections only in the Hindi heartland states and not in south India.
BJP leaders termed Kumar’s remarks as hate speech and said the voters will wipe out the India bloc from southern India as well in the next elections.
Kumar’s comments came in the backdrop of some referring to the recent assembly election results as reflective of the ‘north-south divide’ after the BJP trounced the Congress in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, and the Congress won in Telangana.
Senior BJP leader Sanjay Jaiswal said the BJP will even form the government in Tamil Nadu in the next five years by defeating the DMK.
TR Baalu of DMK demanded in the Lok Sabha that the floods caused by Cyclone Michaung in Tamil Nadu be declared as a national calamity, and sought the Centre’s assistance to tide over the situation.
Raising the issue in Zero Hour, Baalu said more than 1.2 crore people in Tamil Nadu are facing floods due to the cyclone and 17 people have died so far.
After 47 years this type of flood has occurred, he said. Heavy damage has been inflicted on properties, and more than 17 people have died, he added.
He asked if it is not proper for the Government of India to declare this situation as a national calamity.
He said he thought the Home Ministry would have done it by now. More than four feet of water is there everywhere and even food and relief material are being sent by boats, he said.
He said the Centre should come forward quickly and send teams to asses the situation and find how much damage has been done.
Severe cyclonic storm Michaung made landfall crossing south Andhra Pradesh coast between 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm yesterday leaving its maximum fury to be felt on Monday in Chennai and adjoining areas in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Southern districts of Odisha and eastern Telangana continue to be on alert.
Nishikant Dubey of BJP said in the Lok Sabha that demography in many parts of Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal was changing because of a rise in infiltrations by illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and demanded the Centre implement National Register of Citizens in these states.
During the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, Nishikant Dubey said he has been raising this issue constantly in 15 years as MP.
He said people talk about Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes and noted that Jharkhand was separated from Bihar as a tribal majority state.
Dubey said, in 1951, the population of tribals was 36 per cent in Jharkhand. Today it is only 24 per cent, Dubey said.
He claimed that in Jharkhand the tribal population has gone down.
“The result is such that there is delimitation in the whole country but Jharkhand is a state where delimitation could not be done in 2008 because it will reduce one tribal seat in the Lok Sabha and three tribal seats in the Assembly,” Dubey said.
“Today the situation is that Bangladeshi infiltrators come and marry tribals. The Muslim population, especially in districts like Godda, Pakur, Sahibganj, Deoghar and Jamtara, is increasing. This is not a Hindu-Muslim issue,” he said.
The BJP Member claimed that a similar situation was being witnessed in neighbouring Bihar and West Bengal.
“When Mamata Banerjee was MP she had said the demography of Bengal was changing because of Bangladeshis. Since she became chief minister, Malda, Murshidabad and Kaliachak, are full of Bangladeshi infiltrators. Same is the situation in Katihar, Kishanganj, Araria, Purnia, and Bhagalpur of Bihar. Demography is changing because of Bangladeshis,” he said.
He said the Centre should bring the National Register of Citizens and send away all Bangladesh infiltrators.