‘I can’t explain to them': Shah slams Cong on Supreme Court's Article 370 verdict
The Rajya Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 with voice vote.
Union home minister Amit Shah lashed out at the Congress after Supreme Court held the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir as constitutionally valid.
“Today, the decision (by Supreme Court on Article 370) has also come. Still, they (Congress) say that they don't accept this and that Article 370 was abrogated wrongfully. I can't explain to them what is the reality,” Shah said during his address to the Rajya Sabha.
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“Article 370 boosted separatism and separatism led to the rise of terrorism. One wrong decision can be taken but when history and time prove that the decision is wrong, one should come back towards the interest of the nation. I still say, come back otherwise there won't remain even how many are left now (MPs elected to the House),” he added.
“If you want to stick to this decision even today, public is watching - there will be face off in 2024 and PM Modi will become the PM for the third time,” the home minister said ahead of he Rajya Sabha passing unanimously the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 with voice vote amending key laws in the Union Territory.
ALSO READ: Jammu and Kashmir surrendered sovereignty after India merger: CJI on Article 370
'Nehru left accession of J&K incomplete'
During his speech, Shah invoked India's first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, blaming him for the Kashmir issue.
“Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru was seeing (accession of) Jammu and Kashmir (after Independence) and he left it incomplete. So many regions of the country that seemed difficult than J&K joined India but why was Article 370 brought for Kashmir,” he said.
"One thing is known by everyone, had there not been an untimely ceasefire, there wouldn't have been Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) today...I would like to read out a statement...This is the quote by Jawaharlal Nehru. Unko toh manoge ya nahi manoge ki unhone galti ki. Accept this..." the minister added.
‘Finished ecosystem of terror-funding’
Highlighting the initiatives undertaken in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, the Union home minister said that the government finished the ecosystem of terror funding in the region.
“We have done the work of finishing the ecosystem of terrorism. 32 terrorism finance cases have been registered by SIT and 51 terrorism finance cases were registered by SIG. 229 arrests have been made in terror finance cases. Properties worth ₹150 crores have been seized and SIA has frozen 134 bank accounts with ₹100 crores in them,” he said.