The beginning of building a ‘new Kashmir’ which will be free of terrorism has been made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday as he hailed the Supreme Court verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370.
Shah also assured that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
“The foundation of a 'new and developed' Kashmir has been laid and when India becomes developed, Kashmir will stand equally among the other states, where tourists from across the world would come," he said while replying to a debate in Rajya Sabha on the two key bills relating to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill were passed in the upper house unanimously. The Lok Sabha had already passed these bills last week.
"We are committed to providing justice to the people of Kashmir, its youth and children. We are sensitive towards them and not towards terrorists," Shah said.
Terming the Supreme Court ruling historic, Shah said there will now be only "one Constitution, one national flag and one prime minister".
In a landmark verdict, the top court on Monday upheld the validity of the Union government's decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution, which bestowed special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. The court also held that Article 370 was a temporary arrangement and the President had the power to revoke it.
The home minister attacked the opposition parties over their stance of disagreeing with the apex court’s ruling and said they were unable to see the changes on the aground after Article 370 was scrapped.
"Main inko nahi samjha sakta, meri maryada hai (I cannot make them understand, I have a limit)," he said.
Shah reiterated his allegation that it was first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “mistakes” that led to the sufferings of the people in Jammu and Kashmir.
"They (Opposition) will not be able to see the change, there is a problem with their glasses. They are not ready to rectify their mistake.... But people do not care anymore about them. The entire country has understood that it was Nehru's mistake," he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill seeks to amend section 2 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 to change the nomenclature of “weak and under privileged classes (social castes)” to “other backward classes”.
The second bill seeks to provide representation to Kashmiri migrants, displaced Persons from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and scheduled tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir "to preserve their political rights as well as for their overall social and economic development".