II Stark Reality II
Rustam
JAMMU, Aug 14: Kashmiri leaders, both separatist and "mainstream", have joined hands to put pressure on the authorities to disband the Village Defence Committees (VDCs). The VDCs have been playing an important role in the hilly and mountainous areas of Jammu Pradesh since the 1990s. These BDCs were set up when the secessionists and terrorists tried to spread their tentacles outside the Kashmir Valley, especially in the hilly areas of Jammu province where a particular community constitutes a majority or where the proportion of the two communities - majority and minority - was 55:45, almost evenly balanced. Their purpose was to cause exodus of the minority community from the areas and establish their stranglehold so that they could play their nefarious games with ease.
The reason behind the establishment of the VDCs was not only to help the security agencies defeat the separatists and terrorists but also to protect the minority community. The powers-that-be of the time were fully aware of the gravity of the situation and, hence, they set up the VDCs. Members of the VDCs were provided with arms for obvious reasons.
Ever since the formation of the VDCs, Kashmiri leaders, without any exception, have been opposing them and demanding their disbanding, saying the situation in Jammu Pradesh is peaceful and, hence, there is no logic in maintaining hem. Everyone knows the situation in Jammu province is not normal and that the anti-India elements have always from time to time created troubles in this region. While the separatist leadership is terming the VDCs as anti-Kashmiri and barbarous, the "mainstream Kashmiri leadership has also been saying the same things but in a different manner, although the arguments advanced by both are identical.
The Kishtwar incident which adversely impacted the minority community has been used by the Kashmiri leadership to tarnish the image of the otherwise disciplined and committed members of the VDCs. Between August 9 and today, a number of Kashmiri leaders have expressed themselves against the VDCs and demanded that they be disbanded, as their role is questionable. Even the Chief Minister is not averse to the idea of the VDCs being disbanded. This is a dangerous demand and it, if accepted, would endanger the life of the minority community and help the separatists and communal forces promote their anti-India agenda. This move has to be defeated. The Congress, the BJP and the JKNPP have to work together and ensure that the NC and similar other outfits do not succeed in their dangerous and ill-designed game plan. |
