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| State needs a state-centric Government | | Sham and the Jammu cause | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 20: Congress minister Sham Lal Sharma perhaps was the only Jammu-based leader who consistently advocated the Jammu cause during the election campaign. He not only tore into the successive Kashmir-dominated Valley-centric governments in the state and held them responsible for the all round degeneration of the people of Jammu province but also on a number of occasions suggested that time had come for some Hindu from this region to lead the state government. The people of Jammu province must work hard to get a Hindu Chief Minister he said a number of times during his election rallies and press conferences. "Enough is enough. Jammu will no more play second fiddle to Kashmir. Jammu must get its due share at all levels and in all spheres," he said a number of times during all these days of intense campaigning.
It bears recalling that it was some three years ago that Sharma demanded trifurcation of the state, saying if the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region were to obtain their due share in the polity, the state had to be trifurcated. He started his pro-Jammu campaign from Bani in Kathua district in the presence of many Congress leaders, including JKPCC chief and many ministers, and had evoked a very sharp reaction from Kashmir. Even many Congress leaders took on Sharma and appealed to the Congress high command to take action against him, suggesting that he had become a threat to the unity and integrity of the state, but with no result. His brother and then MP Madan Lal Sharma was the only Congress leader who stood solidly behind Sham Lal and defended him to the hilt.
Ever since his Bani statement, Sham Lal has been advocating the Jammu cause, notwithstanding the fact that he didn't come out of the government he also held responsible for the neglect and marginalization of Jammu province - something many in Jammu didn't appreciate. Sham Lal got emboldened because the high command never reprimanded Sham Lal for what he repeatedly said about Jammu's political status in the state and his insistence on Chief Minister from Jammu. It was only last week that Sham Lal was patted by none other than JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz. Soz said in Jammu that Sham Lal will be given a crucial role if the Congress was voted to power. Soz in a way endorsed the views of Sham Lal. People may say that it was a political move, but the fact remains that Sham Lal stood vindicated. The plight of the people of Jammu province is miserable. They have little or no say in the governance of the state. It is not only the Kashmiri leadership which has always denied the people of Jammu province their legitimate due share, the ruling elite in Delhi has also never treated them fairly. It is time for them to produce more Sham Lals so that they attain a status in the state polity they deserved as part and parcel of the state and Indian polity. |
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