New Delhi: Opposition leaders on Monday reacted to Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) and the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Shah, while discussing two bills on Jammu and Kashmir in Rajya Sabha, said that Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and nobody can snatch it.
He stated that the BJP does not have a large-hearted approach when it comes to giving away even an inch of the country's land. "No one has the right to give away a section of our land to show off their big heart." He made the remarks criticising former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Reacting to Shah's statement, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said, "Who is stopping? Bring back PoK, we will welcome it."
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said that she agrees with the Home Minister and that PoK is an inseparable part of India.
"What Amit Shah said, I also agree and I think every countryman agrees that PoK is an inseparable part of India and it should taken back. If this is golden era, then Amit Shah should bring back PoK and hold free and fair elections there," Chaturvedi said.
While discussing the J&K bills in Rajya Sabha, Shah read out a quote by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru where he took responsibility for the issue of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).
Shah said that if there had been no untimely ceasefire in Kashmir, there would have been no PoK.
"One thing is known by everyone, had there not been an untimely ceasefire, there wouldn't have been Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) today...I would like to read out a statement...This is the quote by Jawaharlal Nehru. Unko toh manoge ya nahi manoge ki unhone galti ki. Accept this," Shah said in Rajya Sabha.
On abrogation of Article 370, Shah said, "Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru was seeing (accession of) Jammu and Kashmir (after Independence) and he left it incomplete. So many regions of the country that seemed difficult than J&K joined India but why was Article 370 brought for Kashmir."
He stated that "if anybody in the future asks who is responsible for the decision to abrogate Article 370, I would like to say me and Narendra Modi government are responsible for the decision."