Srinagar, Jun 28 (KNS): Union Home Minister Amit Shah Friday said the elections in jammu and Kashmir would be held in the next six months after the ongoing Amarnath Yatra concludes, adding that the Centre would extend all its support whenever the Election Commission comes out with a schedule for polls.

Reports said that Shah also launched a scathing attack against the ruling dynasts in the Valley, saying that the common people wanted a break from the Abdullahs and other political families who had maintained an iron grip on everything from panchayat polls to Lok Sabha election, stifling democracy in the process. “It is when a non-dynastic party has taken hold of the state that the people are now even happier,” he said.

Shah slammed the previous Congress governments for invoking article 356 (President’s rule) to undemocratically dismiss governments, and said that Congress helped the Muslim Conference, started in Kashmir by Sheikh Abdullah, by not setting up its party units there. "The Congress put all its eggs in Abdullah's basket and he ran away with the basket and, as a result, he became the Prime Minister there," Shah told the Parliament.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

"We will protect the Kashmiri culture," Shah said, adding that opposing India does not fall in the ambit of ‘Kashmiriyat’.

“Those who want to separate J&K from India must have fear in their minds. Some say there is an atmosphere of fear there. Those who are against India should have fear in their hearts. We are not part of the ‘tukde tukde’ gang. We are not against common people of J&K,” Shah said, adding that a process of creating jobs for the youth has been put in place.

Shah also asked the Congress why the death of Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee in a jail in Jammu and Kashmir was not probed by the then governments. “His death was also not probed. Why? Was he not a senior opposition leader? A leader from Bengal, a former Union Minister?” Shah asked.

The Lok Sabha on Friday gave its nod to the government’s proposal of seeking extension of President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir from July 3. The state has been under President's rule since December 2018 after the six-month long Governor's rule ended. (KNS)