RUSTAM
JAMMU, Jan 17: Is the demand in Jammu province for five more districts; namely Billawar, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Rural Jammu and Nowshera, reasonable? The answer is in the affirmative. Indeed, the demand is old that needs positive consideration by the NC-Congress coalition Government.
It needs to be noted that the successive Governments in the state accorded a special treatment to Kashmir by creating more districts in the Valley despite the fact that there was no demand, as also despite the fact that none of the commissions/committees appointed by the State Government to look into the demands of the people of Jammu province for more districts on the ground that its area was two time more that of Kashmir and bulk of its geographical area mountainous, difficult and inaccessible.
Take, for example, what happened after October 1972? On October 27, 1972 the Congress Government of Mir Qasim set up two committees, one each for Jammu province and Kashmir to suggest creation of new administrative units vide order No. 3688-GD of 1972. The reports of two committees were summed up by the Chairman S.A.S Qadiri, then Financial Commissioner. In his reports, Qadiri rejected the demand for more districts in both the provinces. But did the Government of Sheikh Abdullah do in the late 1970s? It threw this report into the dustbin and created three new districts in Kashmir despite the fact that no one had demanded more districts and despite the fact that a very strong movement in Jammu province was in full swing for the establishment of three districts of Kishtwar out of Doda district, Samba out of Jammu district and Reasi out of Udhampur district. As expected, the decision of Sheikh Abdullah administration provoked strong protests in Jammu province. The situation had turned so volatile that the Sheikh Abdullah Government appointed S S Wazir Commission on November 21, 1981 vide Govt. Order No. 2352-GD of 1981 to look into the demands of the people of Jammu province regarding creation of new districts. Wazir Commission submitted its reports in December 1983 and recommended, among other administrative units, three districts of Samba, Reasi and Kishtwar in Jammu province and one district of Bandipora in Kashmir. Sadly, the Sheikh Abdullah Government did not implement this report, thus leaving the people of Jammu province high and dry.
If the attitude of what Sheikh Abdullah Government was negative towards the Wazir Commission Report, the attitude of Ghulam Nabi Azad-led coalition Government towards it was highly worse. He implemented it in a wrong way. He set up 8 new districts, 4 each in Jammu province and Kashmir in 2007.
All this should establish that the attitude of the State Governments to Jammu province was never negative. The NC-Congress coalition needs to undo the past wrongs by not only creating five new districts in Jammu province but also meeting their other age-old demands, including appointment of delimitation commission and amendment in the State constitution to empower Jammu through a definite statute. |
