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| It's time to negotiate with Jammu, Ladakhi leaders | | Kashmiri leaders have failed the nation - 1 | | Early Times Report
jammu, Sept 14: Jammu & Kashmir was one of the 560-odd princely states in India. Bulk of the princely states joined Indian Dominion in 1947 and the issue was handled by the then Home Minister Sardar Patel. Jammu & Kashmir was only state, which PM Nehru handled. He adopted a policy that relegated Jammu and Ladakh to the background by transferring the state power to his friend Sheikh Abdullah of Kashmir, who was known for his separatist and communal credentials. Ever since then, New Delhi has been following the Nehruvian line and hurting the paramount national interest in the state.
It was Nehru, who sought to appease Kashmiri leaders like Sheikh Abdullah and Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad and Kashmiri people belonging to the majority community in Kashmir through Articles 370 and Article 35-A and by putting all the eggs in the basket of Kashmiri leaders, but failed to achieve the desired results. The separate Jammu & Kashmir Constitution didn't satisfy the Kashmiri leaders and their constituencies. They revolted again and again. As a result, Sheikh Abdullah was dethroned in 1953. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad was also dethroned in 1964 under the Kamraj Plan.
The state functioned well during the next 11 years (1964-1975). In 1975, Indira Gandhi brought back to power Sheikh Abdullah and since then, the nation has been facing serious troubles in Kashmir and the people of Jammu and Ladakh seething with anger. She brought back Sheikh Abdullah under the 1975 accord with Sheikh Abdullah but ensured the collapse of his government in 1977, as the accord failed to protect what she called "national interest". After the death of Sheikh Abdullah in 1982, Indira Gandhi made his son Farooq Abdullah as Chief Minister in "national interest", but had to show him his place in 1984, as he, like his father, failed to protect the "national interest" in the state. His government was dismissed by Indira Gandhi.
Thereafter, Indira Gandhi sought to promote national interest in the state through Sheikh Abdullah's son-in-law, GM Shah. He was also removed in 1986. He was removed by Indira Gandhi's son PM Rajiv Gandhi. In 1986, Rajiv Gandhi entered into an accord with Farooq Abdullah to promote national interest in the state. The accord led to the wholesale rigging of the 1987 assembly elections in the state and the result was the rise of violent secessionist movement in Kashmir. The situation so deteriorated after 1987 that Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah fled away to London in 1990, thus creating a situation that forced New Delhi to keep Jammu & Kashmir State under Governor's Rule/President's rule between January 19, 1990 and October 9, 1996.
Strange may it appear but it is fact that the people of the state gave Farooq Abdullah a huge mandate in 1996 (57 seats), which he frittered away. He didn't allow mainstream politics to grow in Kashmir. He held the people of Kashmir aloof from the national mainstream and he also failed to hand down a people-centric administration to the people of the state. The result was that the NC suffered a massive defeat in 2002. It could win only 28 seats.
The newly-founded PDP of Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti could win 16 seats and the Congress won 20 seats. The then AICC chief Sonia Gandhi entered into accord with late Mufti Sayeed. The Mufti completed three years in office as per the accord. However, the PDP withdrew support to the Congress-led coalition government in June 2008, which ultimately led to the fall of the Congress government in July 2008.
In 2008, Sonia handed over the state power to Omar Abdullah of NC and made the Congress to play the role B-team. The state under Omar Abdullah witnessed violence on an unprecedented scale in 2010. He openly challenged the Indian state in and outside the assembly, saying "by saying again and again that Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India you can't change the political status of the state".
In 2015 and 2016, the BJP entered into accords with Mufti Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti. Mehbooba Mufti Government fell on June 19, when the BJP withdrew support to her government. What happened in the state, especially Jammu province and Kashmir region during this period is too well-known. It was a free for all situation in Kashmir with terrorists reigning supreme in the Valley and people of Jammu and Ladakh accusing the BJP of bartering their interests to appease Kashmir.
All this shows that the Congress' and BJP's accords with Kashmiri leaders have failed and only brought disaster to the state. It's time for the BJP to abandon the Nehruvian approach and test new political waters. The Narendra Modi government should initiate a dialogue process with the Jammu and Ladakh leaders. It must give them the chance to manage the affairs of the state. The people of both the regions are nationalist to the core and they also occupy 89 per cent of the state's land area. Such a shift would benefit the nation and also tell the international community that only tiny Kashmir Valley is the trouble-spot and the rest of the state is peaceful. |
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