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| Approach is holistic and a welcome change | | | Hari Om
Jammu province is one of the most neglected regions in the country. It has little or no say in the governance of the State because the office of Chief Minister and political power has become the sole preserve of Kashmiri leadership. Jammu also has inadequate share in the vital service sector. The fact of the matter is that it is the Kashmiri leadership and a section of Kashmiri society, which have been governing the State since October 1947 without any break. They have even established their stranglehold over the crucial revenue, finance and police departments along with other important services. The people of Jammu and Ladakh are chaffing and seething with an extreme form of anger. Jammu and Ladakh never got what was their due share as part and parcel of the State polity and society was candidly acknowledged by various commissions - the State Government appointed from time to time to look into the complaints of regional disparities. The 1968 Justice Gajendragadkar Commission Report on the causes responsible for inter-regional bitterness, animosities and tensions had even gone to the extent of observing that "even if all the matters were equitably settled, we feel that there would still be a measure of discontent unless the political aspirations of the different regions of the State (Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh) were satisfied". The worst aspect of the whole situation till May 2014 was that the Indian political class, especially the one that terms itself "secular", was at the helm of affairs in Delhi considered Kashmir - the sole factor in the State's political situation and always sided with the communal, vindictive, biased and patently Valley-centric leadership under the misguided notion that fulfilling the urges of the Kashmiri leadership and its supporters would be the same as meeting the needs, compulsions and aspirations of the entire population of the State. It was for the first time in May 2014 that the people of Jammu and Ladakh got a Government at the Centre, which believes in the principle of justice and equity and makes no distinction between regions, communities and castes and whose only mantra is "Sab Ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas". In fact, they celebrated the exit of the Congress-led UPA Government from the office as a day of deliverance and came to believe that their night of discontent and despair would soon be over and their voice now would be heard and recognised in Delhi. Their belief was well-founded and the BJP-led NDA Government under the able leadership of Narendra Modi measured up to their expectations on July 10, when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is very familiar with Jammu & Kashmir and nature of inter-regional relations in the troubled State, presented his maiden Budget in Parliament. The Budget, among several things, also talked about Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. It happened for the first time in independent India, of course, much to the chagrin of Kashmiri leaders of all hues, especially pro-autonomy J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and votary of special status for the State, J&K Congress president Saif-ud-Din Soz. Arun Jaitley announced an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) for Jammu, one mega solar power project for Ladakh, Rs 50 crore for the Pashmina Development Programme in Kashmir and funds for tourism infrastructure development and construction of building of Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM) in Gulmarg (Kashmir) and Rs 200 crore for the up-gradation of indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and the Kashmir Valley. It may appear preposterous, but it is a fact that Omar Abdullah and Saif-ud-Din Soz dismissed as anti-Kashmir the Union Budget and charged the Narendra Modi Government with "brazenly" perpetrating injustice on Kashmir. They vehemently opposed the provision in the Budget that contemplated an IIT for Jammu - an institution, when established and made functional, would be thrown open to all eligible candidates in the country desirous of seeking admission to the IIT. Omar Abdullah said that the Budget was "lop-sided" and "discriminatory" and that the Union Government did great injustice to Kashmir by sanctioning an IIT for Jammu region alone. The BJP-led NDA Government ignored the "regional" aspirations of the Kashmiri youth, he also said. He did not inform the nation that Kashmir already has National Institute of Technology (NIT), which was established way back in 1960 and got the status of deemed to be university during the time Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2003.
As for Saif-ud-Din Soz, he crossed all the lines to display his hatred for Jammu and identify the Congress with what he called the regional aspirations of Kashmir. He said the decision of the Union Government to set up an IIT in Jammu has outraged secular India. "The Union Government is 'fuelling divide' in J&K. Kashmir has been 'completely' left out of the Union Budget. Bounties were showered on other regions. The BJP Government gave an IIT to Jammu with an eye on the vote-bank in the region, but couldn't offer anything to Kashmir which doesn't have a flourishing public sector. Kashmir has suffered immensely by way of loss of life, property and resources during the turmoil and unfortunately, the Government of India has nothing to offer to the tormented people. The BJP seems to have shut its eyes on Kashmir. An impression is going around that being a Muslim majority State, Kashmir is being singled out for discrimination by the BJP Government…The discriminatory Union Budget has set the alarm bells ringing for secular India," he said in the Rajya Sabha on July 31 and August 7.
It is hardly necessary to point out what Omar Abdullah and Saif-ud-Din Soz, whose parties together have been at the helm of affairs in J&K since January 2009, think about Jammu, as each and every word that they spoke while denouncing the Union Government was self-explanatory. And it was not the first occasion when they exhibited their utter bias against Jammu and Ladakh. They and their predecessors consistently evolved and implemented policies which rendered these two regions unreal and ineffective for all practical purposes. Opposition of Saif-ud-Din Soz to IIT was intriguing because the Congress has been enjoying political power in the State because of Jammu. Paradoxically, they are the ones who, like other Kashmiri leaders, including hardcore separatists and radical Islamists, reject out-of-hand - the loud clamours in Jammu and Ladakh for segregation from Kashmir and a dispensation that is independent of Kashmir and within India and under the Constitution of India, minus divisive, communal, anti-people and anti-democratic Article 370. They say again and again that the unity and integrity of J&K has to be maintained and that the minority communities in the State have to accept a solution to the so-called Kashmir problem that is acceptable to the majority Muslim community. The minorities constitute more than 40 per cent of the State's land area and occupy its over 88 per cent land area. And it would be misnomer to term 40 per cent population in the State as a minority. The times have changed. The people of Jammu and Ladakh are no longer prepared to accept the position of servitude and subordination. The Kashmiri leadership would commit a grave blunder if it continues to test the patience of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. There are potent reasons to believe that their patience is ending and ending very fast. If they really wish that the State remains intact, they have no other option but to abandon their Valley-centric approach and adopt a holistic and inclusive approach towards the State.
Courtesy: www.niticentral.com |
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