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Time for Jammu leadership to unite Jammu cause 7/23/2014 11:37:56 PM Neha JAMMU, July 23: It is an established fact that the people of Jammu province have never got what was their legitimate due share in the socio-economic and political processes during all these more than 66 years of the state's accession to India. It is the Jammu leadership that is responsible for the step-motherly treatment being meted out to the people of this province, as also for the prevailing discontent in this province. There is hardly any segment of society in Jammu province which is happy. Had the Jammu leadership, like its counterpart in Kashmir, and even in the cold-desert Ladakh, discharged its obligations towards this province and played a pro-active role in the State Cabinet, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, the story of Jammu province today would have been totally different. Instead of working for the development of its constituency without jeopardizing the interests of other two regions of the state, it always danced to the tunes of the Valley leadership, and sometimes quite brazenly, thus taking the people of Jammu province for granted. Who helped Farooq Abdullah Government in February 2002 amend the state constitution to bar delimitation of the Assembly constituencies for more than three decades? Almost all the law-makers from Jammu, including those from the Congress, voted for the anti-democratic amendment. It was this senseless support of the Jammu lawmakers which denied the people of Jammu province proper and inadequate representation in the Assembly, which discusses and decides questions of supreme importance to well-being and happiness of the people. This is just one classical example showing the nature of damage they caused to Jammu and its people, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs included. Even Ghulam Nabi Azad, who claims that he belongs to Jammu, hit the people of Jammu province below the belt by rejecting the Wazir Commission report that had recommended three new districts for Jammu and one for Kashmir and created eight new districts, four each for Jammu province and Kashmir region. He defended the anti-Jammu decision saying he believed in the principle of equality. Not that there were no Ministers and legislators from Jammu province in the State Cabinet, Council of Minister, Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council. They were very much there in strength, but it was their insatiable lust for power and personal profit that made them sacrifice their constituencies. They thought it politically prudent to remain in the good books of Kashmiri rulers, including Sheikh Abdullah, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq, Mir Qasim, Farooq Abdullah, GM Shah and Omar Abdullah and enjoy the loaves and fishes of office. The ruling elite also encouraged this trend, as it believed that if Kashmir wants to remain part of India, Jammu and Ladakh had to sacrifice their political and economic interests and allow the ruling elite in the Valley to outrage their sensitivities. Remember, when the Congress high command handed over the office of Chief Minister to the NC in January 2009, Sonia Gandhi said she took this decision in the national interest. In other words, she candidly told her own party legislators in Jammu and Kashmir that they must remain on the right side of the NC. Things in Jammu province have changed and changed radically. The people want a dispensation that treats them equally with their counterparts in Kashmir at all levels and in all spheres. Now that the elections in the state are round the corner, it is time for all the Jammu-based leaders to forget all differences and work in unison to protect and promote further the genuine cause of the people of Jammu province. There is no need to speak against Kashmir, which is integral part of the state and by extension integral part of India. Let Kashmir get what is its due but the Jammu leadership also ensures that Jammu and Ladakh also get what is their due in the state's polity and economy.   Share This News with Your Friends on Social Network     Comment on this Story

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