Going to UN for Kashmir was blunder: Amit Shah targets Congress

New Delhi: Holding the Congress party squarely responsible for the present-day Kashmir dispute, Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday slammed the critics for questioning the Narendra Modi government's August 5 move to abrogate Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Blaming first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the crisis, Shah said going to the UN for the Kashmir issue was a blunder. He said, Article 370 went on for years due to wrong promotion.

"First of all, going to UN for Kashmir was a blunder. And secondly, the selection of the charter was wrong. Instead of choosing charter 35, the government should have opted for charter 51," the BJP president said in a packed auditorium. He was speaking at an event organised by Indraprasth Vishwa Samvad Kendra here.

Elaborating further on his claims, Shah said: "Charter 35 made it a conflict between two nations, while charter 51 would have helped us put the case of a foreign nation occupying our land."

He also alleged that Kashmir's history has been moulded to hide the truth.

"It is because the people writing the history were the ones who had created problems in Kashmir", he said, adding: "Kashmir was, is and will always remain an integral part of India. We don't need to mention it again."

While he congratulated PM Modi for axing Article 370, he reminded the Congress of the alleged atrocities committed under its rule in Kashmir.

"At least 41,800 people have been killed by terrorism in Kashmir to date. I ask those people who raise questions of human rights... will you raise voice for the children and family of these 40,000 plus people who were killed?"

Stressing that Kashmir will return to normalcy "very soon", he counted the ills of Article 370 like caste discrimination, prevalent child marriage and much more.

Allaying fears that scrapping the Article would not harm the 'Kashmiriyat (Kashmiri-ness)' of the state, Shah reasoned: "If it is so then, why is Gujarati culture alive without 370, why is garba still alive in Gujarat, why is Durga Pooja alive in West Bengal?"

Training his guns at human rights organisation crying foul over Kashmir, he said: "For them, video clips of mobile phones is human rights violation but the killing of many people, army men, and security forces is not human rights violation."

"Lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits are roaming around in the country are being thrown away from their homeland. Isn't this human rights violation?" he asked.

Shah also reminded the audience how Sardar Patel ensured 630 'riyasats' joined India after Independence, except for Jammu and Kashmir that was handled by Nehru.

Criticising the first Prime Minister, Shah said: "When Indian armed forces were on the verge of defeating Pakistani army and militants during Independence, Nehru called off the fight. This led to a major chunk of Jammu and Kashmir getting into hands of Pakistan. It is now called PoK."

Hitting out at the political class in the Kashmir Valley, he said: "I never saw a drop of sweat on these families for generations. But now, even under the AC, sweat is visible on them."