The Jammu and Kashmir Budget 2022-23 of around ₹1.42 lakh crore was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday amid heated tussle and allegations between Treasury and opposition benches over the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the 1990s.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman used strong words to accuse the Congress of leaving the minority Pandit community in the state to its own devices; The opposition later staged a walkout after the MPs were not allowed to intervene when the allegations were being made.
The opposition had already objected to the bill being taken up for discussion without it being circulated beforehand. But the minister’s reaction to the issue of Kashmiri Pandits only added to the anger. Responding to a discussion on the J&K budget, Ms Sitharaman attacked the Congress over a series of tweets issued by the Kerala unit related to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley during the 1990s, an issue that was issued by The film “Kashmir Files” is placed in the foreground and was mentioned by several members of the Lok Sabha during the debate. While BJP MP from Ladakh Jamyang Tsering Namgyal and Janata Dal (U) MP Sunil Kumar Pintu demanded that the film be tax free across the country, Danish Ali of Bahujan Samaj Party demanded a ban on the film, alleging That the film has been accused of inciting feelings of hatred. different communities.
In a series of tweets on Sunday with the hashtag #KashmirFiles vs true, the Kerala Congress said, “After the terrorist attacks, instead of providing security to Pandits, BJP Governor Jagmohan asked them to be shifted to Jammu. A large number of Pandit families did not feel safe and left the Valley out of fear.”
Attacking the Congress, Ms Sitharaman said, there was a series of tweets from the Congress that said Kashmiri Pandits left the Valley and not because they were forced.
“Our party (Congress) believes that it was not because of terrorism, but the agitation was because of the greed of the offer of financial benefits and land in Delhi….The other belief is that there was a tussle between the separatists and those who stood for India. There is a long battle, he said quoting the series of tweets. He also said that the Congress was an ally of the government at the time when the exodus took place and the then chief minister had left people to fend for himself when militancy was on the rise.
He also alleged that during Congress rule a Prime Minister met a separatist who had allegedly killed an Indian Air Force officer and later the same separatist admitted to a foreign TV channel that he had Killed an Indian Air Force officer.
MPs from Congress, NCP, TMC and National Conference staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha to protest Ms Sitharaman and the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for not allowing opposition MPs to intervene.
Following the walkout, the House passed a total budget of ₹1.42 lakh crore for Jammu and Kashmir and Supplementary Demands for Grants seeking additional expenditure of ₹18,860.32 crore for the Union Territory.
Ms Sitharaman said that Jammu and Kashmir has attained normalcy after revoking the special status, whereas earlier it was fake normalcy.
In August 2019, the government abrogated several provisions of Article 370, resulting in the end of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. “Jammu and Kashmir was not normal under Article 370… there was fake normalcy before the abrogation of Article 370… there is no fake normalcy after its abrogation,” he said. He said that after the abrogation of Article 370, 890 central laws came into force in Jammu and Kashmir.
Ms Sitharaman said 40,000 projects were completed in J&K in 2021-22 and connectivity is improving in the Union Territory. The Union Territory has seen a 90% reduction in ceasefire as it has come down from 900 in 2020 to 98 in 2021, he said, adding that terrorism has been contained and infiltration has declined significantly. With regard to investments, he said, the investor-friendly J&K campaign has paid off. “Investment proposals worth Rs 44,177 crore have already been received. Out of that the employment potential is 1.80 lakh… Most of the investment proposals are from outside,” she said.