NB Viewpoint | "PoK would have been part of India if Nehru...": Two key Bills for J&K passed in Lok Sabha with a dig at Nehru
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New Delhi, Dec 7: 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.
A dig at former PM Nehru
Shah took a dig at Jawaharlal Nehru saying Jammu and Kashmir had suffered due to two blunders committed by India's first prime minister — first, announcing a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and then taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations.
“Had Jawaharlal Nehru taken the right steps, PoK would have been part of India now. It was a historic blunder," he said.
“I support the word that was used here — Nehruvian blunder. Because of the blunder that was committed during the time of Nehru, Kashmir had to suffer," Shah said.
Discussing delimitation of Assembly constituencies in J&K, Shah said earlier there were 37 seats in Jammu, now there are 43. Earlier, there were 46 seats in Kashmir, now there are 47 seats, he said.
“We have reserved 24 seats for PoK… woh hamara hai, hamne woh reserve rakhi hai ( PoK is ours, so we have reserved the seats)" he said.
Uproar and a walkout
There was an uproar by the opposition benches over the remarks on Nehru and they staged a walkout but returned later. After their walkout, BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab said Shah should also talk about the "Himalayan blunder", a reference to Nehru's actions leading up to the war with China in 1962.
Shah quipped that his talking about two blunders had upset the opposition benches and if he had used the phrase "Himalayan blunder", they would have resigned.