When will full statehood return to J&K, why has security situation deteriorated there: Congress asks Amit Shah

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday took a swipe at Home Minister Amit Shah over the government's policy on Jammu and Kashmir, asking when full statehood would be restored and why the security situation there had "deteriorated under your watch".

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also asked why the Centre was attempting to "infringe" on the Jammu and Kashmir political executive's powers and why the economic situation in the Union Territory had only "declined" since 2019.

"The self-styled Chanakya is in Jammu and Kashmir today. Since the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018, Jammu and Kashmir has been administered primarily by the home ministry," he said in a statement, adding that there were four questions the "swaghoshit (self-declared) Chanakya" should answer about his governance.

Ramesh alleged that since 2018, the people of Jammu and Kashmir were denied any avenue to express grievances and the region had become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal.

"While claiming to have ended special status for Jammu and Kashmir, the government has, in fact, created an extra-special situation of a new and unique political system: one where the state has been downgraded to a Union Territory, elections have been suspended, and all norms of constitutional morality violated," he alleged.

In his speech in Parliament on December 11, 2023, Shah said that full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir would be restored at an "appropriate time", Ramesh pointed out.

"Five years after being stripped of their statehood, the people of Jammu and Kashmir still lack clarity on what the timeline for this return of statehood is. Based on the experience of the last five years, where assembly elections were delayed on one pretext or the other, the people of Jammu and Kashmir don't buy the Centre's assurance of restoration of statehood," he said.

Ramesh asked if the home minister could give a straight answer to the key question of when full statehood would return.

He further said one of the most repeated talking points of "the non-biological prime minister, the self-styled Chanakya, and their ministers" was that the abrogation of Article 370 curbed terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The mood on the ground, however, is one of anxiety. At least 51 security personnel have been killed to the south of Pir Panjal since 2021, in an area where there were no major incidents of terrorism between 2007 and 2014," he said.

"In the last few weeks, it has spread even to neighbouring districts that we considered largely peaceful: as evinced by the attack in Reasi on 9th June, the attack in Kathua on 10th June, and in Doda on 11th June," Ramesh said.

Infiltration from Pakistan is rising and a palpable sense of insecurity prevails across Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader claimed.

"The home minister has been conspicuously silent even amidst this surge in terrorism. Why has his government failed to salvage the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir? What is his vision to restore normalcy? Why is the central government consistently lying to the country about the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir?" Ramesh asked.

He also questioned why the Centre was attempting to infringe on the Jammu and Kashmir political executive's powers.

"In July 2024, the home ministry amended the rules under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, giving powers to make decisions on crucial matters such as police and all-India services officers and granting sanctions for prosecution in various cases solely to the Union government-appointed lieutenant governor (L-G)," he said.

By curtailing the Jammu and Kashmir political executive's policing and administrative powers, the home ministry severely compromised the functioning of the future government, he said.

Ramesh also asked why the Centre was continuing to compromise the to-be state government's powers if it was sincere in giving complete statehood to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Why has Jammu and Kashmir's economic situation only declined since 2019? When the BJP abrogated Article 370 to much fanfare in 2019, they repeatedly argued that the law was a hindrance to 'development and progress'. In the three years since the new industrial policy was announced in January 2021, the Union Territory has received proposals worth Rs 84,544 crore in as many as 42 industrial sectors," he said.

Till date, only 414 units have been registered and actual investment on the ground is just Rs 2,518 crore, he said.

Ramesh said the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy painted a grim economic picture in April last year, noting that Jammu and Kashmir had among the highest unemployment rates in India at 23.1 per cent.

He alleged that part of this situation was administrative incompetence -- recruitment processes in government jobs had been delayed due to allegations of exam paper leaks and bribes for four years.

Jammu and Kashmir has more than 60,000 government daily wagers working for Rs 300 per day, he pointed out.

"Will the home minister inform the people of Jammu and Kashmir who is responsible for this economic mess? Is it the BJP-appointed L-G or the home minister himself? How many jobs has this government created -- in the public sector or the private sector?" he asked.

The 90-member Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will go to polls in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1, and the votes will be counted on October 8.