New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday asserted that the concept of "one flag, one prime minister, one constitution" was not a mere political slogan and that his BJP firmly believes in the principle and finally implemented it with regard to Jammu and Kashmir.
He was responding to a remark by TMC's Saugata Roy in the Lok Sabha that "ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan (one flag, one head, one constitution)" was a "political slogan". The Home Minister wondered as to how can a country have two prime ministers, two constitutions and two flags, and took exception to Roy's remarks and branded them as "objectionable".
While responding to a remark from the opposition benches, Shah said, "Whosoever did it was wrong. Narendra Modi has corrected it. Your approval or disagreement does not matter. The entire country wanted it." The remarks from the Minister was in an apparent reference to the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 and Article 35-A in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
He went on to state that "one symbol, one head, one constitution" was not an election slogan. "We had been saying since 1950 that a country should have one PM, one flag and one constitution and two will not do and we have done it." Soon after Roy ended his speech on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said while the TMC leader mentioned Syama Prasad Mukherjee, he should have also recalled his sacrifice.
Roy said he had taught in a college named after Mukherjee and "ek nishan, ek pradhan, ek samvidhan" was his slogan and it was a "political slogan". Shah then rose to hit back at the TMC member.
While debating The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said the stone pelting incidents in Kashmir have become a thing of the past. "Earlier there were stone pelting incidents in Kashmir. Today there are no such incidents. Today, not only at Lal Chowk but the Indian flag is hoisted in every lane in Kashmir," the Minister said.
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, said that India now is one nation with one Constitution. He asserted that his government neither nurses problems nor keeps them pending while referring to the scrapping of Article 370, that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The Article 370 provided for the J&K to have its own flag, rights and laws.
On August 5, 2019, Shah announced that the union government had decided to repeal Article 370 and Article 35-A of the Constitution that grants special status to the state. An ordinance to this effect was issued by the then President of India. (with Agency inputs)
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