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Centre to table Bill to reserve 3 seats for Kashmiri Pandits, PoK refugees in Jammu and Kashmir assembly
After Bill passed in Parliament, Jammu and Kadhmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha will be nominating the three members, comprising two Kashmiri Pandits and one displaced person from PoK
The Centre will be tabling a Bill in the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament to pave the way for reservation of three seats in the J&K assembly. Two of these seats will be reserved for migrant Kashmiri Pandits and one for displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir living in Jammu for decades.
“It’s a historic moment. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill will be tabled in Parliament’s monsoon session. Kashmiri Pandits will get two seats as they were forced to leave their homeland and live a miserable life. One seat will be given to displaced persons of Pakistani-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who had rejected the two-nation theory and stood with the Indian Union,” BJP state spokesperson Altaf Thakur said on Monday.
Thakur said that J&K lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha will be nominating the three members of the legislative assembly. “This is a great gesture from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Kashmiri Pandits and displaced persons of PoJK,” he said.
Post-delimitation, the number of assembly seats in J&K has been increased from 107 to 114. Nine seats have been reserved for members from the Scheduled Tribes.
In its report, the delimitation committee had recommended the reservation of seats for both Kashmiri Pandits and displaced persons from PoJK or refugees, who have poor representation in the assembly. “The government has accepted the recommendations and now the Bill will be tabled in the monsoon session. Once passed in Parliament, it will become a law and ensure representation to these communities,” Surinder Ambardar, a former BJP legislator, said.
Should be prerogative of elected govt: NC
National Conference chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said the NC has no problem with representation to under-represented communities. “That was also the logic behind having an Upper House, which was scrapped under this very reorganisation Act. Our opposition is to the proposal of the lieutenant governor nominating people. This should be the prerogative of the elected government and not an unelected representative of Delhi,” he said, adding that in the past, candidates for the two reserved seats for women were nominated by the governor, but only with the approval of the elected government.
“The fact that the LG is being authorised to nominate is another admission that the BJP is convinced they will lose the next election in J&K. The party is using the nomination route to try to get a handful of members in the House. Two or three seats will make no difference to the future of the BJP and it (BJP) should stop hiding behind the Election Commission and the lt governor.”
Sadiq said the NC has already rejected the Reorganisation Act of 2019, and the entire process has been challenged in court. “It raises concerns about how the government can proceed with a decision in such haste while it is still being debated in the Supreme Court,” he said.
Wait for SC judgment, says PDP
Peoples Democratic Party spokesman Suhail Bukhari said that the PDP isn’t against the reservation but the Bill has been challenged in the Supreme Court. “It’s better to wait for SC judgment in the case. It’s not that people were not given representation in J&K. Earlier also it was done but at that time elected representatives used to choose them. How come a person sitting in Delhi will decide who is going to represent people in J&K?” Bukhari said.
Don’t bypass council of ministers: PC
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference spokesperson Adnan Mir said while the party acknowledges the importance of providing representation to underrepresented sections of society, it believes the nomination process should be carried out on the advice of the council of ministers to ensure fair representation and uphold democratic values in Jammu and Kashmir. “In a parliamentary democracy, it is fundamental that the President, governor, or the lieutenant governor acts on the aid and advice of the council of ministers. This principle extends to the nomination of members to the Lok Sabha or any state legislature. The President, governor or LG cannot exercise their prerogative without seeking the advice of the council of ministers. However, the Centre’s proposed Bill appears to equip the LG with the sole authority to nominate members to the state legislature of J&K, bypassing the constitutional requirement of seeking advice,” Mir said.
“By allowing selective nominations by the LG, the government could potentially alter the majority in the legislature into a minority, thus subverting the democratic will of the people. This undemocratic tactic not only undermines the essence of our democratic structure but also poses a threat to the tenets of our Constitution,” he added.
