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| Politics of competitive secessionism at its peak in Kashmir | | No one cares for Jammu, Ladakh | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 6: Sensing the possibility of Assembly elections in J&K, along with the general elections, in May or a little later, the Kashmir based parties like the NC, the PDP and even the Congress have started making preparations to win the coming polls and capturing the government. All the three parties are cautioning the people against what they call "divisive forces", who, according to them, are out to break the state on religious and ethnic lines. By divisive forces, they do not mean terrorists and Hurriyat leaders; by divisive forces they mean those in Jammu and Ladakh, who want reorganization of the state or the status of statehood for Jammu province and Union Territory for Ladakh on the ground that the people of these two regions have suffered huge losses during all these years of the state's accession to India at the hands of the New Delhi-supported Kashmir-based political class.
While the NC and the PDP are focusing their attention on Kashmir, which returns 46 members to the assembly, as also on the constituency, which is constituted by the followers of one particular religion, the Congress is focusing on all the three regions believing that it has bright chances in Jammu and Ladakh where the BJP has been facing credibility crisis. Almost all top Ladakhi Buddhist leaders have quit the BJP. In Jammu also, the BJP is at the receiving end. Leave aside its claim that there is the possibility of some BJP man becoming CM of the state. It's no more than day dreaming. It could perform well only if the Modi Government do something concrete in the next 55 days, but the possibility of his government doing anything to appreciate the sentiments in Jammu and Ladakh is too remote.
From the statements being issued by Kashmiri leaders of the PDP, the NC and the Congress, it is clear that all the three parties will contest elections on divisive and emotive issues, and not on democratic and economic planks or on the planks of governance and development. The PDP and the NC have already opened their cards and left none in any doubt that their election planks will be greater autonomy, self-rule, demilitarization, talks with Pakistan, soft or porous borders, Article 35A and Article 370, J&K Bank, Roshni Act etc. Their statements have also made it clear that they have no respect for the sentiments and aspirations of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. They believe that their politics of competitive secessionism and communalism would help them win the required number of seats in the Valley and parts of Jammu province where the proportion of the two-communities - Hindus and Muslims - is evenly balanced. They believe they don't require votes from the other community.
As for the Congress, it has also turned very radical. It has become difficult to distinguish between the Congress and the NC and the PDP. Their agenda is one and their methodology to woo the voters in Kashmir in particular is also one: Talk Kashmiri alienation; talk against Narendra Modi Government and BJP and talk in favour of dialogue between India and Pakistan. Statements made by JKPCC chief GA Mir, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Saif-ud-Din Soz and other Congress leaders, local or central, clearly suggest that they, like the Abdullahs and the Muftis, take people of Jammu and Ladakh for a ride and consider Jammu and Ladakh as the Kashmir's two colonies.
This is the current political scene in the state. No wonder then that many in Jammu and Ladakh want the President's Rule for an indefinite period to defeat the Kashmiri plan to recapture J&K Government. |
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