| Why not rotational CM between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh | | Ladakh divisional status row | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Feb 14: The historic decision of the government to grant divisional status to Ladakh with its headquarters at Buddhist-majority Leh has created a sort of furore in Kashmir and Kargil. On the one hand, the Shia-majority Kargil district is up in arms against the government and, on the other, almost all Kashmiri leaders, including Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah of the NC and Mehbooba Mufti of the PDP, have also upped their ante and described the decision of the government as "divisive", "anti-Kargil" and as an attempt to "change the Muslim-majority character of the state" and pit one section of society against the other.
The Abdullahs and Muftis, like the Shiite Muslim leadership in Kargil, have not only urged the Union Government and J&K Governor to declare that the office of the Divisional Commission of Ladakh will be rotational between Leh and Kargil, but also demanded trifurcation of Jammu province into plains of Jammu and 2 mountainous regions, thus suggesting that Jammu province is heterogeneous. They have demanded creation of two more divisions in Jammu province, one each for the so-called "Chenab Valley" and "Pirpanchal Region" of which Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban are integral part since ages. So much so, while Omar Abdullah has declared that he will break Jammu province into three parts in case his party came to power, Mehbooba Mufti has threatened the Union Government that the people of the (non-existent) "Chenab Valley" and Poonch and Rajouri districts will come on to the roads if Jammu province was not trifurcated. Their whole aim is to establish "Greater Kashmir".
Interestingly, none of the Kashmiri leaders and none from Kargil has demanded more administrative divisions in Kashmir, thus suggesting that Kashmir, unlike Jammu province, is homogeneous. This is not true. Years back, Farooq Abdullah had said at Asia Hotel Jammu that "let people say whatever they want to say, but the fact is that Kashmir is as heterogeneous as Jammu". He had made this candid observation at a political event". He was right. An overwhelming majority of people in Baramulla-Kupwara-Handwara are ethnically different from those living in the Valley proper. The position of Gurez and areas surrounding it is also no different. The fact of the matter is that the Abdullahs and Mufti are playing communal card and hurting the legitimate interests of the people of Jammu province and Ladakh. This is a dangerous game.
The manner in which these leaders from Kashmir have acted, and continue to act, after February 8, has infuriated many politically conscious people of Jammu and Ladakh. They have started asking: "Why not rotational Chief Minister between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh?" "If they want rotational Divisional Commissioner for Ladakh, we want rotational Chief Minister for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh".
"Let there be Chief Minister from Jammu for six years, Chief Minister from Kashmir for six years and Chief Minister from Ladakh for 6 years," they have opined, adding that "Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and ilk can't be selective". They make a very valid point. |
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