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| Opposition to IIT for Jammu grows in Valley | | Is this the way to keep J, K and Ladakh intact? | | Neha
JAMMU, Aug 11: Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion oppose the demand in Jammu for statehood and in Ladakh for Union Territory, saying these demands, if conceded, would hurt the Kashmiri psyche and further alienate the Kashmiri Muslims from India. Radicals among the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region consistently urge the Union Government to declare Jammu province as a full-fledged State, Ladakh as Union Territory and tackle the menace of secessionism and terrorism in the Valley of Kashmir using all available means. Trifurcation of the State is the only panacea available to end unrest in Jammu and Ladakh and forge a lasting peace in the militant and separatist-infested Kashmir, a number of Jammu-based political groups have been saying since long. Their demand is also coupled with a stern warning that failure of the Union Government to concede their age-old demand would only help Valley leadership create a Kashmir-like situation in Jammu and if it happens, results would be disastrous for the nation. Significantly, Kashmiri leaders dismiss the demands in Jammu and Ladakh for the state's trifurcation/reorganization as communal, anti-Kashmir and anti-national and claim that they treat all the three regions of the state at par with each other.
How could Kashmiri leadership oppose the demand in Jammu and Ladakh for the state's trifurcation when it always discriminates against these two regions and opposes any move that is aimed at meeting some of the needs of the people of these two marginalized parts of the state? It's not just the Kashmiri leadership which is anti-Jammu and Ladakh by conviction. Even members of the so-called Kashmiri civil society are out-and-out anti-Jammu and anti-Ladakh. As late as on August 11, former Vice-Chancellor of Islamic University in Kashmir and former Maharaja Gulab Singh Chair Professor Siddiq Wahid (presently on the staff of Kashmir University) came out with an essay that condemned the BJP-led NDA Government for sanctioning an Indian Institute of technology for Jammu. His nasty essay, which advocated the cause of Kashmiri separatists, among other things, also took on the Union Government for its decision to sanction an IIT for Jammu. In this regard, he wrote: "Starkly, Ladakh and Jammu were handed a range of goodies for developmental work. Kashmir, conspicuously and without elucidation, was ignored. Correctly, it was being criticized as being divisive".
Earlier, NC working president and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and JKPCC chief Saif-ud-Din Soz had condemned New Delhi for sanctioning an IIT for Jammu, despite the fact that the Union budget gave more to Kashmir than to Jammu and Ladakh. The budget, in fact, sanctioned an IIT for Jammu, Rs 50 crore for Pashmina promotion programme and programme for development of other crafts in Kashmir, provided for a solar power project for Ladakh, set apart Rs 200 crore for upgrading indoor and outdoor stadiums to international standards in Jammu and the Kashmir Valley and earmarked money for tourism infrastructure development and construction of building of Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering (IISM) in Gulmarg (Kashmir). But the Kashmiri leaders and the likes of Wahid focused only on IIT and that too when the IIT would be for the entire state as well as for the rest of the country.
It bears recalling that Omar Abdullah had on July 12 dismissed as brazenly discriminatory and lop-sided the decision of the Union Government to sanction an IIT for Jammu and Soz had on July 31 and August 7 described the decision as anti-Kashmir and a threat to what he called "secular India". Both openly and brazenly displayed their contempt for the people of Jammu province by saying what they said about IIT. And still, they want the state to remain united. It is not going to happen. The state would wither away in case Kashmiri leaders continue to exhibit their bias against Jammu and Ladakh. It's strange that not a single Jammu-based leader has exposed those in Kashmir who have unleashed a relentless campaign against Jammu and the Union Government. Why? |
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