Rajya Sabha unanimously passes bills amending Jammu and Kashmir laws; Amit Shah takes a dig at the Congress

The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, were unanimously passed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The upper house of Parliament passed the bills after the opposition walked out during Home Minister Amit Shah's address when he launched a scathing attack aimed towards Congress after the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the abrogation of Article 370. "It is heartening to note that both bills have been passed unanimously There has been no dissent," said Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar at the end of the session.

Lauding the verdict of the Supreme Court, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit out at the Congress stating that the grand old party has steered clear from the reality. “Today, the decision by Supreme Court on Article 370 has also come. Still, they say that they don't accept this and that Article 370 was abrogated wrongfully. I can't explain to them what the reality is,”said Shah in the Rajya Sabha.

“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,” Amit Shah said, highlighting the said perils of Article 370. “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,” he added.

“Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru was seeing 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,”said Amit Shah holding the first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawarharlal Nehru responsible for the Kashmir issue. "One thing is known by everyone, had there not been an untimely ceasefire, there wouldn't have been Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) today,” he added.


Interestingly, in a “historic” verdict on Monday, the Supreme Court of India upheld the constitutional validity of the abrogation of Article 370 that allowed special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the SC directed the Election Commission to hold assembly elections in the state by September 2024.