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| Maintaining unity and integrity of J&K | | Crucial Assembly elections | | Rustam
JAMMU, July 11: Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion oppose the demand in Jammu for the State's reorganization. They also oppose the demand in Ladakh for Union Territory status. They say the unity and integrity of the State must be maintained. At the same time, they do not appreciate political aspirations and sensitivities of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. In fact, they want to impose their regressive, intolerant and anti-India ideology on them. When it comes to the solution to the so-called Kashmir problem, they talk of the will and aspirations of Kashmir alone, but when the people of Jammu and Ladakh talk about holistic, rational and national approach to the issues facing them and the State and vouch for closer ties with New Delhi, the Kashmiri leadership pounces upon them and rejects their views as utterly unacceptable and anti-Kashmir. They say they represent the general will and the people of Jammu and Ladakh have to accept their diktats. Their major refrain is: Maintain unity and integrity of the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.
Now the question to be asked is: Can the unity and integrity of Jammu and Kashmir be maintained and who could help harmonize inter-regional relations in the State and maintained its unity and integrity? The NC, which could be legitimately termed as a sub-regional party, cannot do so. Sub-regional party in the sense that it has virtually no support-base left in Jammu and Ladakh, the State's two regions which occupy more than 88 per cent of the State's land area and inhabit equal, if not more, population. The area of influence of the NC is now basically confined only to a few Assembly segments in the very small Kashmir valley, the claim of the NC leadership to the contrary notwithstanding. But more than that, its senseless and communally-motivated insistence on pre-1953 politico-constitutional status (semi-independence) is utterly unacceptable to Jammu and Ladakh. The story of other parties, including the CPI-M and the Congress, is no different. They are also sub-regional parties and their support-base is also rather limited. Their approach, like that of the NC, to the issues facing the State is also sectarian and parochial.
Significantly, the Congress is neither here nor there. It is for power and can flirt with the NC or any other Kashmiri party for the sake of power. It is evident from its conduct during the past 12 years or so. It, like the NC, CPI-M and similar other outfits, is being looked down upon by the people of Jammu and Ladakh, as it is also fundamentally Kashmir-centric. The fact of the matter is that the people of Jammu and Ladakh rejected outrightly the Congress and the NC and voted overwhelmingly for the BJP in the just-held Lok Sabha election should clinch the whole issue and establish that the NC and the Congress leadership just cannot keep the State intact. The need of the time is a regime that is State-centric and not Valley-centric. The coming Assembly elections will determine the political future of the State and there should be no doubt on it. It would be politically prudent for the parties like the NC and the Congress to recognize and appreciate the stark realities in the State and conduct accordingly. |
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