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| Kashmiri leaders exploiting 2014 polls to muddy Indian waters | | Towards Independence | | Neha
JAMMU, Mar 23: The NC, like other Kashmir-based parties, have upped the ante against India, and declared that it would fight the upcoming general election on break-India plank. It has said that it would go to the Kashmiri people to seek their vote on such planks as greater autonomy, demilitarization, revocation of the AFSPA and Pakistan and that it will issue its election manifesto in a few days. The NC is contesting the Lok Sabha election only in the Valley as per the seat sharing formula reached with or imposed on the Congress. Its demand, if conceded, would mean Kashmir's complete independence from India and it just cannot be conceded.
What is the political status of Kashmir? Are the people of Kashmir a neglected lot? What are the realities about the state in general and Kashmir Valley in particular?
It would be only relevant to refer here to nine-ten instances to prove that Kashmir is the most privileged and powerful region in the country.
One, it was in March 1846 that the State of Jammu & Kashmir came into being under the Treaty of Amritsar signed between Dogra Maharaja Gulab Singh and the British Government. It was Kashmir that became part of the Dogra Kingdom and not the vice-versa. This fact needs to be underlined.
Two, between 1846 and 1946, the sectarian leadership in Kashmir engineered many movements to get Kashmir segregated from the Jammu Kingdom, the last being in 1946, which is known in the political history of Kashmir as "Quit Kashmir Movement". The Quit Kashmir Movement was not directed against the British Government; it was directed against the Dogra in general and Dogra Maharaja Hari Singh in particular. Besides, in between, the Kashmiri leadership approached the British Government umpteen times to persuade it to scrap the Treaty of Amritsar and, if that was not possible, they should rule Kashmir directly. The upshot of their whole argument all through was that the "British sold the life, dignity and honour of the Kashmiris for Rs 75 lakh and that they didn't want any kind of truck between Kashmir and the "alien and oppressive" Jammu. Their whole approach was communally-motivated. It would be only proper to say that the Kashmiri leadership and the Muslim League leadership were the two sides of one and the same coin.
Three, it was in October 1947 that the political power was transferred from Jammu to Kashmir much against the wishes of the Dogras under the premise that such a transfer could induce the Kashmiri leadership to join the national mainstream and promote politics in the Valley based on democratic and economic issues. Ever since then, the office of the Chief Minister has become not only the sole preserve of Kashmir, but also of a particular religious sect whose members have been muddying the Indian waters in Kashmir. There is an impression that between November 2005 and July 2008, a Jammu politician led the state government. It is a wrong impression. The person who led the state government during this period was also ethnically Kashmiri and he also belonged to the sect to which all his predecessors belonged. The point is that the political power has been in the hands of Kashmiri leadership since 1947 and Article 370 has further empowered it to exercise unbridled and extraordinary executive and legislative powers.
Jammu & Kashmir State is the only state which also exercises residuary powers. Some vested interests compare Article 370 with Article 371 to counter the argument that Jammu & Kashmir is the solitary state which enjoys a separate status within the Union and give the people to understand that there are several states in the country which enjoy a special status. This is misinformation. Article 371 doesn't give the right to any state have a separate constitution and a separate flag. It needs to be underlined that all the major organizations, both the separatist and so-called mainstream, are controlled by a particular religious sect and each one of them is contributing to the ongoing dangerous process of radicalization in the Valley. Leave aside the dangerous role of Jamaat-e-Islami, Allahwales, to mention only a few. Four, Kashmir has excessive and preponderant share of representation in the state assembly that decides questions of supreme importance to the happiness and well-being of the people. It returns 46 members to the 87-member House - more than 50 per cent - and three members to the Lok Sabha, despite the fact that the land area of Jammu is two-time that of Kashmir and the number of voters in both the regions is almost same. The difference is less three lakh. Jammu returns only 37 members to the Assembly and two members to the Lok Sabha.
Five, the rate of unemployment in Kashmir province is less than 30 per cent, as against more than 69 per cent in Jammu. In fact, the number of Kashmiri employees working in the government and semi-government establishments is almost 3.5 lakh, as against the Jammu's share of one lakh. While the percentage of Kashmiri employees working in Jammu province in various government and semi-government establishments is approximately 20, there are hardly any employees from Jammu who are working in Kashmir. In fact, the people of Jammu and Ladakh are conspicuous by their absence, like the original inhabitants of Kashmir the Kashmiri Hindus.
Six, the per capita central assistance to Jammu & Kashmir is highest in the country. For example, in 2008, "Bihar got per capita central assistance of Rs 876 and Kashmir got more than Rs 9,754 - over ten times more. Kashmir used to get a preferential treatment before 2008 and it has been getting a preferential and differential treatment since then as well.
Seven, the per capita consumption of meat in Kashmir is highest in the world and till date not a single Kashmiri has died of huger or cold.
There is hardly any Kashmiri who is without a roof. What does all this show? It shows that Kashmir is the most privileged region in the entire country and still the nation faces many challenges in Kashmir. It is appropriate time for the people of Jammu and Ladakh to call the bluff of the NC, which is going beyond the constitutional confines. Besides, it is also time to question the Congress as to what it thinks about the NC and its ideology? |
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