Amit Shah slams Opposition for 'spreading misinformation' on restrictions in Kashmir, lauds Narendra Modi for diplomatic victory at UNGA

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday hit out at the Opposition for spreading misinformation about the restrictions in Kashmir and said that the entire world has supported the move to abrogate the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.

While addressing a seminar on national security in New Delhi, Shah criticised the Opposition for spreading "misinformation" about restrictions in the Valley.

"Where are the restrictions ? It is only in your mind. There are no restrictions. Only misinformation about restrictions is being spread," he said.

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The home minister said the curfew was lifted in  all the 196 police stations in Kashmir and only in eight police stations areas Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) was imposed, which banned the assembly of five or more persons.

The home minister said 41,800 people have lost their lives in the decades-old militancy in Jammu and Kashmir but no one has raised the issue of human rights violation of jawans, their widows or the children who were orphaned.

"But people are trying to create a hue and cry over lack of mobile connections for few days.Lack of phone connection is not human rights violation," he said. Shah also said 10,000 new landline connections were given in Jammu and Kashmir while 6,000 public call offices (PCOs_ have also come up in the last two months.

Shah also faulted Jawaharlal Nehru's hadnling of the Kashmir issue and said that approaching the UN, that too under the wrong charter, amounted to a "Himalayan blunder."

Shah said there were 631 princely states when India attained Independence in 1947 and 630 of them were handled by the then Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and one by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"The 630 princely states were merged with the Union of India completely but Jammu and Kashmir remained an issue since 1947," he said.

The home minister said on 27 October , 1947, the Indian Army had reached Kashmir and defeated Pakistani attackers. It was marching towards Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and they were on the verge of victory. "But suddenly the then government announced ceasefire. What was the need for announcing the ceasefire when we were about to win the war. Had the ceasefire not declared, PoK would have been part of India now," he said

"In 1948, India went to United Nations. That was a Himalayan blunder. It is more than a Himalayan blunder," he said.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi , Shah said that Jammu and Kashmir will be the most developed region in the country within the next five to seven years because of the bold step taken on 5 August.

"I want to tell you because of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir has not been fully integrated into India. Because of Article 370, corruption has flourished there," he said, adding that as many as 106 laws, including right to education, human rights and ban on child marriage were not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir because of Article 370.

"The decision on Article 370 will strengthen the unity and integrity of India," he said.

Referring to the recently concluded United Nations General Assembly, Shah said all world leaders have supported India's move on Article 370.

"All world leaders had gathered for seven days (in New York). Not a single leader has raised the issue (of Jammu and Kashmir). This is a big diplomatic victory of the prime minister," he said.

However, China raised the Kashmir issue at the UNGA and said "dispute" should be peacefully and properly addressed in accordance with the UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and the bilateral agreement."

China, a close ally of Pakistan, also stressed that no actions should be taken that would unilaterally change the "status quo".

On 28 September, 14 US Congressmen had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to address concerns over the human rights situation in Kashmir and lift the communications blackout.

India has consistently maintained that the decision to abrogate Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the state into two Union territories is an "internal matter."

With inputs from PTI