J&K to get statehood at appropriate time: Shah

J&K a priority, says home minister

NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: The Centre will grant full statehood to the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) at an “appropriate time”, home minister Amit Shah said in the Lok Sabha on Saturday, stressing that this government had done more for the region since the nullification of its special status in August 2019 than those who ruled it for decades.

J&K has been a top priority of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government since it came to power at the Centre in 2014, Shah said. He added that devolution of power took place there after the government nullified Article 370, which granted special privileges to the erstwhile state, and said the move will hurt dynastic politics.

“We should not do politics on Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. There are several issues over which politics can be done. These are sensitive places and people have suffered a lot. We need to assuage their feelings,” he said, replying to a discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill.

He also rejected the Opposition’s charge that the proposed law negates the hopes of the region getting back statehood.

The bill to merge the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) cadre of all-India services officers with the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre was later passed by the Lok Sabha by a voice vote. The bill has already been greenlighted by the Rajya Sabha. It replaces an ordinance issued last month.

“I am piloting the bill. I have introduced it... Don’t impose your apprehensions on the people of J&K… This bill has nothing to do with J&K statehood.

The region will be granted statehood at an appropriate time,” Shah told the Opposition that has spoken out against the move to nullify Article 370.

Targeting opposition parties, especially the Congress, he said Article 370 was a temporary provision but they continued with it for 70 years for the sake of “vote bank politics” before the Modi government nullified it on August 5, 2019, and bifurcated J&K into two Union Territories – J&K with a legislative assembly and Ladakh without one. “Who pressured you to continue with it for years?... This government does not believe in vote bank politics. This government takes decisions that will benefit the nation,” Shah said. He wondered what the ruling NDA’s predecessors, who were now asking questions about development in the region, had done for J&K since Independence.