Government brings Resolution to Repeal Article 370 of the Constitution

NEW DELHI, 2019 AUGUST 05 – Union Minister for Home Affairs, Shri Amit Shah, introduced two bills and two resolutions regarding Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) today. These are as follows:

 Constitution (Application to Jammu & Kashmir) Order, 2019 {Ref. Article 370(1) of Constitution of India} – issued by President of India to supersede the 1954 order related to Article 370.

1.      Resolution for Repeal of Article 370 of the Constitution of India {Ref. Article 370 (3)}

2.      Jammu & Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019 {Ref. Article 3 of Constitution of India}

3.      Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (2^nd Amendment) Bill, 2019

Announcing a path breaking decision by the Government, Shri Shah said that the Government is moving a resolution which would repeal the provisions under Article 370 of the Constitution of India,which granted a special status to the state of J&K. The provisions of Article 370 would cease to exist from the date President of India issues a notification in this regard, after the recommendation of the Parliament. Consequently, the Constitution of India would get applicable to J&K, on par with other states/UTs of the country, the Minister added.

Responding to apprehensions on the resolution and the future of J&K,Shri Shah said,“I would just say that the bill that the Government is bringing is historic. Article 370 has prevented J&K to merge with India rather than being a basis of its merger. The politics of vote bank has looted the youth of the state for over 70 years. I would call on the opposition members to debate and discuss on why the benefits of development were not allowed to reach the common people of J&K till now. Politics of religion must be avoided at all costs. Article 370 is equally harmful for people of all religions”, the Minister said.

Further, the Minister termed the provisions of Article 370 as discriminatory on the basis of gender, class, caste and place of origin. The youth is being taken for a ride by the political elite. This provision was temporary in the first place and it has to go in the larger interest of the people of J&K, he added.

Under article 370(3), there is a provision that President, on recommendation of the Parliament, has the power to amend or cease the implementation of article 370, through a public notification. This has already happened on a number of occasions in the past. The Home Minister pointed out to the opposition that everyone knows how the article 370 is hampering the development of the people of the state. 

Shri Shah said that post the repeal of the Article 370, doors to private investment in J&K would be opened, which would in turn increase the potential for development there. Increased investments would lead to increased job creation and further betterment of socio-economic infrastructure in the state. Opening of buying of lands would bring in investments from private individuals and multinational companies and give a boost to the local economy, as opposed to the apprehensions raised by those opposing this historic step, he added.

Home Minister remembered the martyrdom of civilians and soldiers who have lost their lives during 1989-2018. He said that had article 370 would not been there, these people wouldn't have lost their lives. Refugees who came from Pakistan after partition did not get citizenship till now. They cannot become councillors in the state. This has been a historical injustice to these people. As opposed to this, in rest of India two Prime Ministers were elected from those refugees.

Shri Shah said because of article 370, democracy never took root in J&K, corruption flourished, widespread poverty took root and no socio-economic infrastructure could come up. It is the root cause of terrorism. Further, 73^rdand 74^thAmendments to the Constitution could not be applied to J&K due to article 370. Panchayat and Nagar Palika elections could not be held. Who is responsible for taking away democratic rights of the people of J&K which were available to other citizens of India? It was Article 370.Panchayat elections recently held were conducted successfully and peacefully. The people want democracy and not bloodshed., the Minister said.

Talking about economic backwardness in J&K, Shri Shah said article 370 impedes people from outside the state to do business there. Absence of economic competition has prevented development and corruption flourished. Land prices are at a rock bottom because no one can buy land there. No industry, including tourism, is allowed to flourish there. People remain poor in perpetuity despite presence of abundant economic opportunities for the local populace. Rampant corruption is present, thus preventing external investment in the state.

Home Minister said, “I want to tell the Kashmiri youth that article 370 holds no benefits for them. It would only benefit a few elite people who want to keep the youth poor for ever and corner all benefits for themselves. Despite so much funds being provided by the Centre, where are the educational and health facilities? Those who support article 370 must know that this article prevents professionals from outside the state to settle down in the state and hence no one wants to go there. Now, the moment this resolution is passed and article 370 is removed, each child would get right of education and each patient would get free health care under Ayushman Bharat.”

Further addressing the Kashmiri youth, Home Minister said, “We want to embrace the youth of J&K and give them flourishing opportunities of employment. Even the separate bill for reservation for economically backward classes would not be required if the resolution is passed in both houses as the provision will get automatically applied to J&K, as in rest of India”. 

Talking about terrorism, Shri Shah said that the youth has been misguided to pursue jihad on Pakistan's nefarious designs. Thousands of civilians have died. Why? It has been a stated policy of Pakistan to support article 370 and keep the youth away from getting into the mainstream of development and brain wash them into jihad. All the political parties with separatist ideology have vested interests to continue article 370. Their children do not get killed in the blood shed caused due to terrorism, hence support the article. 

Rebutting the apprehension that removing article 370 would destroy Kashmiri culture, Shri Shah said that all states have preserved their culture and language after becoming a part of the Union of India. How does article 370 protect JK on this aspect, he asked. It is only and only a political propaganda that has blinded the youth of Kashmir into believing it for 70 years. “I assure the youth of JK that give this government 5 year and it will become the most progressive region in the country”, the Minister said.

Daughters of the state marrying outside the state lose their rights to property. It is so discriminatory to the women and their children. SC and ST people have been discriminated against and have been deprived of reservation to political offices. Despite knowing this a few people have been perpetuating this article only for their political gains, the Minister said.

Shri Shah assured the House that if the Union Territory model works well, our government would also consider giving J&K the status of state again. No constitutional amendment would be required.

J&K would become a true part of India in letter and spirit once article 370 is removed. The path to solution to all the problems of Kashmir goes through the repealing of article 370. This step would stand strong and would pass the test of legal scrutiny. Article 370was a temporary and transient provision, it had to go. It only required political will, which only the present government had. “I give a heartfelt appeal to all political parties to rise above political considerations to join hand with the government to remove article 370. The country wants this united as one”, the Minister concluded, after which all the resolutions and bills relating to J&K were passed.

Shri Amit Shah also introduced the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019 making Jammu & Kashmir a Union territory with a Legislative Assembly, along with Union Territory status to Ladakh without a Legislative Assembly. Further, the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation (2^nd Amendment) Bill, 2019 to amend the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act 2004 was also introduced. This bill seeks to extend the 10% quota to economically weaker sections of society in J&K in jobs and educational institutions. Both the bills were passed by Rajya Sabha unanimously.

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In a first, BJP forms Christian Missionary wing in Mizoram

The cell will run a 24X7 helpline for Mizoram missionaries

AIZAWL, JULY 25 (IANS) – To diminish its anti-Christian tag, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has set up the country's first Christian Missionary wing in Mizoram, where the saffron party has one MLA in the 40-member House, party leaders said on Thursday.

Mizoram BJP President J.V. Hluna said a five-member committee of Christian Missionary wing was formed with Hriata Chhangte as Chairman and Julie Vanpari as Secretary.

Hluna said: "The Christian wing was formed as some political parties and churches are accusing the BJP to be an anti-Christian party."

The Christian Missionary wing was formally opened on Wednesday.

"Initially we will start social activities for the cause of Mizos and gradually expand our activities," the 54-year-old mining engineer-turned-politician told IANS.

Chhangte said that occasionally Mizo people were harassed in different parts of the country when they went for studies, professional work, medical treatment and other purposes. This missionary wing will help address such grievances.

The Christian Missionary wing will have a 24X7 helpline.

"As I worked in many parts parts of the country as a central government official including in Gujarat, Odisha, Karnataka, Assam, I feel that BJP is a most secular party."

Chhangte, who lost the Lok Sabha elections in Mizoram as an independent candidate, said: "That the BJP is anti-Christian is false, spread by the Congress because it did not want it to come to power in Mizoram".

Though the ruling Mizo National Front is a constituent of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), both the parties separately contested the Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls in the Christian dominated state.

With a population of 1,091,014 (according to the 2011 census), Mizoram is a closely knit society with a Christian majority (87 per cent).

*Pics via FB

Modi wave takes BJP 8 to 14 seats in northeast, NDA tally 17

Agartala/Guwahati, 24 May 2019 — Powered by the "Modi wave", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was alone set to win 14 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in eight northeastern states, against 8 in the 2014 polls. 

With three NDA constituents - the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) of Nagaland, the Mizo National Front (MNF) in Mizoram, the National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya - winning three seats, the tally of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would be 17 against 11 in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

On the other hand, the Congress, which had a strong base in all the northeastern states but currently no government under its rule in the region, had won or was set to win only four seats (three in Assam and one in Meghalaya) against eight in 2019.

The counting of votes, which started at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning, was on till midnight in many of the region's 25 Lok Sabha seats.

In Assam, the ruling BJP had either won or was leading on in nine Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress won or was ahead three seats this time like in 2014, including Kaliabor which was won by former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi's son Gaurav Gogoi. However, All India Women Congress President Sushmita Dev lost her Silchar seat to BJP's Rajdeep Roy.

The Assam-based All India United Democratic Front, which had won three seats last time, was leading in only one seat -- Dhubri -- where party supremo Badruddin Ajmal was in the fray. In the tribal-dominated Kokrajhar constituency, Independent sitting Lok Sabha member Naba Kumar Sarania is leading with a significant margin over Pramila Rani Brahma of Bodo Peoples' Front (BPF), an ally of BJP in Assam.

Like outgoing Lok Sabha, the two BJP allies, the BPF and the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), would be no representation in the Lok Sabha this time too.

The ruling BJP set to win both the Lok Sabha seats in Arunachal Pradesh -- Tapir Gao (Arunachal East) and Kiren Rijiju ((Arunachal West). The BJP wrested the Arunachal East from the Congress while the party retained the Arunachal West constituency.

The highest ever record margin of my win in Arunachal Pradesh is overwhelming! I'm touched by such love & blessings by the people of Arunachal Pradesh. I thank hon'ble PM @narendramodi ji for the visionary guidance who galvanized the mood & hope of the people.  - Kiren Rijiju (twitter page)

In its maiden victory in Tripura's Lok Sabha battle, the ruling BJP, which in alliance with the tribal Indigenous People's Front of Tripura, wrested power in the state in the 2018 Assembly polls, is on the verge of winning both the state's two seats.

In Manipur, both the Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur seats were wrested by the BJP's Rajkumar Ranjan Singh and Naga Peoples Front candidate Lorho S. Pfoze respectively from the Congress.

In Meghalaya, former Union Minister and National People's Party (NPP) candidate Agatha Sangma won the Tura Lok Sabha seat, while sitting Congress MP Vincent Pala retained the Shillong seat.

Sangma, the younger sister of Chief Minister Conrad Sangma and daughter of former Lok Sabha Speaker late Purno Sangma, defeated her nearest rival and former Chief Minister Mukul Sangma of the Congress by a margin of 63,775 votes.

In Sikkim, putting up a stunning electoral performance, the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) nominee Indra Hang Subba wrested state's lone Lok Sabha seat from ruling Sikkim Democratic Front defeating Dek Bahadur Katwal by a margin of 11,585 votes. [IANS]

Resounding Modi wave as BJP secures 303

New Delhi, 24 May 2019 — The BJP's resounding victory in the Lok Sabha elections that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi make headlines across national and international dailies and also paint a vast swath of the mainland saffron brought in its wake some outstanding results from a number of states.

In the final tally that the Election Commission continues to update the most striking numbers for the Bharatiya Janata Party were in West Bengal, where they decimated the Mamata Banerjee led ruling dispensation Trinamool Congress. To the eight years of Trinamool at the helm the Amit Shah-led BJP pulled up the biggest upset, falling just short of three seats to the TMC's figure. The final tally of 42 seats: BJP- 18, TMC- 21, Congress-3.

In Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party made a huge comeback improving its tally to 62, the SP-BSP Mahagathbandhan managed 5 and 10, respectively, while Congress somehow was spared the royal humiliation, as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli seat remained with the party,while others got 2.

Maharashtra where the ruling BJP has not had a very happy bon homie with its ally Shiv Sena, it managed 23 seats, while Sena 18, Sharad Pawar led NCP got 4, Congress won the lone seat in Chandrapur defeating Union Minister Hansraj Ahir, and others two.

In Bihar, the BJP-JD-U, got 17 and 16 respectively, while the Congress again managed only one seat that of the Kishanganj constituency. The others bagged 6. The biggest upset was for the jailed RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, whose Rashtriya Janata Dal could not manage even a single seat amid the bickering among his sons.

In the national capital and Uttarakhand, it was BJP all the way as it managed all seven seats and five seats.

It sweeped Gujarat, Haryana and Himachal as well, bagging all 26, 10 and 4 seats, respectively.

In both Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, BJP fell short by a single seat of a complete sweep.

The Congress' humiliation was completed with Madhya Pradesh joining the other heartland states bowing to Modi brand of "nationalism"

BJP won 28 of 29 Madhya Pradesh seats and 24 of 25 in Rajasthan. Barring Chhindwara that returned the sole Congress candidate Nakul Nath, the BJP swept all including the Guna seat held by Congress General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindhia.

The Congress' presence in the north was only defined by eight seat win in the Captain Amarinder singh led Puanjab, where the BJP and Akali's managed two seats each. The Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party was one of the greatest casualties, that manged only one seat by Bhagwant Mann in Sangrur.

In the Northeast, Assam where BJP got 9 seats, Congress 3, while other 2. In Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, the BJP emerged as sole winning party as it bagged both seats in both states. In Manipur the saffron party got 1, while the second seat went to others.

In the South, the BJP could not open its account in Kerala, where Congress bagged 15 of the 20 seats, the grand old party's only saving grace as their party chief managed to hold on to the Wayanad seat with record margin, after losing the family borough Amethi to BJP's Smriti Irani in a see-saw battle. The Left got one seat with the CPM winning Alappuza and other managed 4.

In Tamil Nadu, the DMK made a comeback with 23 of the 38 seats in contention, as voting was cancelled for the Vellore seat. Congress won 8, while the AIADMK managed only one. While the BJP could not open its account in the state, the others got 6.

In Jammu and Kashmir, though, the BJP riding on the Balakot airstrike bagged 3 of 6 seats, while the rest went to others. Mehbooba Mufti's PDP and Congress could not open their accounts.

In Odisha the battle went to the wire, but the Naveen Patnaik led BJD bagged 11 of 21, while BJP make gains with 9 seats bettering its previous hold and the Congress got one. [IANS]

Indian Bishop decries mob violence

BJP leaders and workers burn an effigy of the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, in protest against the murder of a BJP worker, Trilochan Mahato, aged 20, in June. The BJP alleges that it was a political murder linked to the violent civic polls in the state, earlier the month

THE entire political class is to blame for the “polarisation and radicalisation” of India that has spawned mob violence, the Moderator of the Good Shepherd Church of India, the Rt Revd Joseph d’Souza, said this week.

After dozens of lynchings in recent months, people of all religions needed to join in countering the “mobocracy” he said.

The Telegraph reports that, in the past six months, 31 people have been killed across ten states, in most cases after being accused of kidnapping children in viral posts on Whatsapp and Facebook. Among them was Mohammad Azam Usmanseb, 32, an IT technician beaten to death by a mob of 200 last month.

Last month, the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, condemned “horrendous acts of mobocracy” and urged the government to take action to combat lynchings and stop the spread of internet rumours that fuelled the violence.

“The people involved in mob violence believe that they have their own people in power, and the police don’t act when they should act,” Bishop d’Souza said on Tuesday.

Dalits, Muslims, churches, and Hindu leaders had all been targeted, he said.

“You cannot say directly that Modi and his government is involved in this, because no sane government can back this. But, you can trace it to the radicalisation of groups along very radical interpretations of Hinduism, which most Hindus do not subscribe to. So there are many moderate Hindus now fighting this. . .

“The political class as a whole, in my opinion, not just the BJP, is to be blamed for the polarisation and radicalisation of Indian society along caste and religious lines. In an attempt to get votes during an election they appeal to the narrow identities of people and their insecurities.”

The All India Christian Council — of which he is President — was leading efforts to find “fraternal partners between religious communities across the world to address these issues”. This would entail work to “challenge the lies that are being spread”, from claims that Christians were involved in forced conversions to the “demonisation” of Muslims, accused of being “terrorists and anti-national”, to reports that Dalits seeking rights were “Maoists”.

Social media was a “huge problem”, he confirmed. India had 600 million mobile-phone users, and “probably the largest Whatsapp community in the world. . . It’s a very effective tool now if you want to galvanise your friends and colleagues.” It had been used, he reported, to recruit the perpetrators of the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Kashmiri girl.

As President of the Dignity Freedom Network (formerly the Dalit Freedom Network), Bishop d’Souza said that the situation of Dalits was “both hopeful and also very challenging”. He highlighted the affirmative-action benefits granted to Dalits, and the success of the Network’s 104 centres and schools, currently educating 27,000 children. Seventy per cent of the 2300 graduates had entered higher education, and one young woman had secured a doctorate in pharmacology.

But Dalit and tribal women remained the primary victims of the country’s sex trade, and gender-selective abortions and female foeticide had resulted in the loss of almost 20 million girls.

“The mindset of Indians towards women is going to take some time to change across the caste system,” he said. “A woman is a burden while a male child is a blessing. . . We are combating that . . . across faith lines.”

The caste system “poisons all of society”, and as Dalits began to assert themselves, violence had been unleashed, he said. He cited the case of Rohith Chakravarti Vemula, a PhD student at the University of Hyderabad who committed suicide in 2016. He was a member of the Ambedkar Students’ Association, which fights for the rights of Dalit students.

“The societal mindset of caste has permeated all of the religions including Christianity, it is shameful to say, in the South where there is so much of caste in the Church,” he said.

Born into a middle-class Christian family, he had been “blind” to their cause, growing up. But after marrying a Christian woman from a tribal background, and witnessing the caste protests of the 1990s, he had “had to wake up”.

“Now, of course, it completely dominates me,” he said. “I don’t think you can really do the full gospel if you ignore the issue of justice and righteousness and reconciliation.” ~ https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/17-august/news/world/indian-bishop-decries-mob-violence