Amit Shah pushes bill to bifurcate J-K into 2 union territories in Parliament

The NDA government on Monday moved Parliament to revoke the special status of Kashmir under Article 370 and bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two centrally-administered union territories, a proposal that provoked howls of protest in the Rajya Sabha from opposition benches.

Home Minister Amit Shah said keeping in view the prevailing internal security situation, fuelled by cross border terrorism in the existing state of Jammu and Kashmir, a separate union territory for Jammu and Kashmir is being created. “The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be with legislature,” Shah said.

Amit Shah said the Ladakh division of Jammu and Kashmir would be directly administered by the central government.

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Shah rejected the opposition charge that the state’s accession was linked to Article 370 which extends special status to the Jammu and Kashmir. Amit Shah told the House that he would respond to every point made by the opposition, underlining that the Article 370 was incorporated into the Constitution as a provisional measure.

Shah held this provision responsible for corruption and poverty in the state, insisting that it had only benefited a few families. “We should not delay this (revoking the special status) by a second more,” he said.

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The contentious resolution and legislative proposals were brought in by the government at the last minute. When members sparred on the procedures involved, Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad stepped in to insist that the government was bringing in an extraordinary legislation.

“This is no ordinary legislation,” he said, accusing the BJP of “murdering Constitution”.

Also read| Govt moves to scrap Article 370: All you need to know