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| NC out to divide Jammu on communal lines, resist the sinister design | | STARK REALITY-I | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Oct 11: National Conference (NC) leaders, including Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, say that they are demanding autonomy not only for Kashmir, but for the whole of the state. They are also saying that their outfit also stands for regional autonomy within the state. Their assertion that they stand for regional autonomy is nothing but a cunning ploy aimed at misleading the people of Jammu province. Actually, the want to divide Jammu into three parts on purely communal lines and neutralize the influence of those in Jammu province who are seeking the region's political empowerment as well as segregation of the Jammu province from Kashmir in order to lead a peaceful and dignified life within the constitutional framework of India. The father and the son are, in addition, seeking to disturb the socio-religious and political equilibrium in order to achieve what the father and founder of the NC could not achieve.
It needs to be emphasized that Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, grandfather of Omar Abdullah and father of Farooq Abdullah wanted to set up an independent Greater Kashmir consisting of Kashmir province and the Muslim-majority areas of Jammu province and Ladakh, but he couldn't because the Congress leadership of the time and the people of Jammu and Ladakh resisted the ulterior move. The Sheikh had also talked in terms of regional autonomy, something that never happened. The Sheikh had vitiated the atmosphere to the extent that New Delhi had to intervene. As a result, the Sheikh had to remain out for power for 22 years; he remained in jail for most of the time. The most significant aspect of the whole situation was the opposition of the bulk of Kashmiri leaders to the style of functioning of the Sheikh and most of them were those who hitherto had worked with him. Even more significant perhaps was the opposition of the Indian Left. The Indian Left worked for the downfall of the Sheikh on the ground that he had been hobnobbing with the United States of America (USA).
Farooq Abdullah, who succeeded the Sheikh after his demise, also followed in the footsteps of hi father, though his style of functioning was different. He raked up the issue of greater autonomy as well as regional autonomy and, at the same time, flirted with the mainstream political formations. His aim was the same but his methodology was different. He did talk about regional autonomy to conciliate those in Jammu seeking end to the discriminatory policies and emancipation from Kashmir, but in practical terms he, like his father, did nothing whatsoever in this direction.
Yes, the Government of Farooq Abdullah did constitute under his own chairmanship the Regional Autonomy Committee, vide its Cabinet Decision No. 7, dated 13.11.1996 and Cabinet Decision No. 11, dated 25.11.1996 released under Government Order No. 1166-GAD of 1996, dated 29.11.1996. But this committee, instead of discussing ways and means leading to the empowerment of the Jammu province, sought to divide the province on purely communal lines. It was not Regional Autonomy Committee. It was divide-Jammu-on-communal-lines- committee. There should be no doubt it.
The so-called Regional Autonomy Committee was an all NC committee. The members of the committee were the then Finance Minister Mohammad Shafi Uri, MLA Mubarik Gul and MLA Syed Mushtaq Bukhari, all votaries of greater autonomy. Bukhari belonged to Jammu but his heart always bled for Kashmir. He hardly represented the case of his own constituency. Leave alone the Jammu province. The terms of reference of the so-called Regional Autonomy Committee were as follows:-
1. "To examine, consistent with the integrity of the State and to promote better involvement and participation of people in different regions for balanced political, economic, educational, social and cultural development, evolving of instrumentalities like local organs of power, at all levels."
2. "To examine the powers that such organs need to be vested with to achieve the objectives set above."
3. "To examine whether any change in the State constitutional structure, obtaining as at present, is required."
The terms of reference were quite vague. In fact, these three terms of reference clearly suggested that the NC Government was not really committed to granting autonomy to the Jammu province and that it was a deliberate attempt on the part of the NC to hoodwink and beguile the people of Jammu province. The most disturbing aspect of the whole situation was that the committee overstepped its authority and took up issues aimed at sharpening angularities between the Hindus and the Muslims of Jammu province and creating bitterness and animosity between the people inhabiting Jammu, Udhampur and Kathua districts and those (read Muslims) inhabiting the hilly and mountainous areas of the Jammu province like Poonch, Rajouri and Doda.
The committee members demonstrated their evil intentions at the very outset, when they said: "The autonomy (read greater autonomy, bordering on virtual sovereignty) issue has been a perennial debate in J&K State in the post-independent India. The debate has two dimensions: one pertaining to Centre-State relations; the second relates to autonomy of regions within the J&K State. Whereas this Committee has been assigned the task of looking into different aspects of internal autonomy, the Centre-State relations are being dealt with by another Committee constituted for this purpose by the State Government."
The very fact that they talked about greater autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir and within that framework "internal autonomy" to Jammu province clearly indicated that the committee members would not dispense justice to the discriminated against and marginalized people of Jammu province, who, in addition, were vehemently opposed to the idea of the state getting more autonomy. The people of Jammu province, it needs to be greatly emphasized, had, between October 1947 and 1996, fought relentlessly against the votaries of greater autonomy and on umpteen occasions put forth two specific demands: one related to their political and economic empowerment; the other related to the commitment to India (their resolve was that they wanted to integrate themselves fully into the national mainstream. (To be continued) |
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