Rustam
JAMMU, Aug 18: The other day Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) also took a communal plunge and made an outrageous demand that "Village Defence Committees (VDCs) and Ikhwan (government sponsored gunmen) must be immediately disbanded". "The powers of SPOs must be limited to minor issues of traffic control, and they must have no powers vis-à-vis the control of militancy or any political activity," it said.
It questioning the composition of VDCs and said that "in Kishtwar district, where the ratio of Hindus to Muslims is 35:65, of a total of 3287 VDC members, 3174 [96.56%] are Hindus" and "out of 3287 VDC members, 865 are paid as VDC/SPOs, and of these 865, only 21 [2.43%] are Muslims and the rest of the paid VDC/SPOs [97.57%] are Hindus". In Doda district, where the ratio of Hindus to Muslims is 30:70, of a total of 6521 VDC members, 5874 [90.08%] are Hindus. Further, out of 6521 VDC members, 1729 are paid as VDC/SPOs, and of these, only 126 [7.28%] are Muslims. The rest of the paid VDC/SPOs [92.72%] are Hindus. The JKCCS also said that "in Ramban district, where the ratio of Hindus to Muslims is 30:70, of a total of 2901 VDC members, 2697 [92.96%] are Hindus" and "out of 2901 VDC members, 177 are paid as VDC/SPOs, and of these, only 1 [0.6%] is a Muslim and the rest of the paid VDC/SPOs 176 [99.4%] are Hindus".
The JKCCS willfully withheld the truth that the proportion of the majority community and minority community in Kishtwar district is 55: 45. It needs to be noted that the two communities are almost evenly balanced in Kishtwar district and other disricts of the erstwhile Doda district, including Doda and Ramban. There are certain areas where the minority community constitutes a majority and there are certain areas where the majority community constitutes a majority. Besides, it needs to be noted that almost half of the tehsils are majority-community dominated and half of the tehsils dominated by the minority community.
The argument of the JKCCS that the number of Hindu VDCs is more hold no water because the VDCs were created in the 1990s only to protect the minority community from the terrorists and separatists. Had the Union Government then not created VDCs, the minority community, which was under constant threat, would have, like the minority community in Kashmir, migrated to Jammu and other places to save their lives and dignity. In fact, certain families belonging to the minority community did migrate between 1990 and 1996 and it was only after the establishment of the VDCs that they returned to their homes and hearths.
It appears the so-called JKCCS, which in no ways represent the people of Jammu province, has joined hands with Geelani and ilk to further the separatist and communal agenda. They are living in a fool's paradise. The people of Jammu cannot be taken for a ride. They know how to defeat the Kashmiri separatists and protect themselves and the national cause in the state, including Kashmir. |
