Shah hopes terror will end in J&K by 2026 : 2 Bills related to UT passed by LS

Government's focus is on ending the ecosystem which has been aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for years

PTI, NEW DELHI, DEC 6, 2023 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will return to power after the 2024 general elections and hoped that by 2026, terrorism will be completely eliminated from Jammu and Kashmir. 

Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said the government's focus is on ending the ecosystem which has been aiding and abetting terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for years. 

He said with the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, separatism has ended in the Union Territory and terrorism has reduced significantly. 

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 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, 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 and 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, PoK 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. "I believe the Modi government will return to power in 2024 and I hope there will be no terror incident in Jammu and Kashmir in 2026," Shah said. 

He blamed the previous governments for the continuous terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for a long period of time and said had terrorism been tackled at the beginning 

"without considering vote- bank politics", Kashmiri Pandits wouldn't have had to leave the valley. 

He said 45,000 people have lost their lives due to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir so far. The Union minister also gave statistics on the reduction of terror related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir and said in 2023, there has not been a single stone pelting incident, nor there was a call for 'hartal'. 

"Every month, the home ministry reviews the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and in every three months, I visit Jammu and Kashmir and review the situation there," he said. 

The Home Minister said people who used to say what happened in Jammu and Kashmir are cut off from the ground situation and obviously they would not know what changes have happened in Jammu and Kashmir. 

"Those holidaying in England will not notice any change in Jammu and Kashmir," he said. Shah said when terrorism started in Kashmir, people were targeted and they had to flee. 

"I have seen many leaders who shed crocodile tears and consoled well with words. But Modi is the only leader who has worked to wipe out their tears," he said. 

He said about 46,631 families and 1,57,967 people were displaced in their own country and were displaced in such a way that they were uprooted from their own homeland and this Bill is going to give them rights and representation.