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| Statehood for Jammu | | |
The ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) seems to have woken up to the demand of restoring J&K’s statehood. During his recent visit to the newly carved out Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, BJP National General Secretary, Ram Madhav asked the party activists to seek restoration of J&K statehood and intensify their political activities. It seems that BJP has realized that the party is losing the ground in Jammu & Kashmir, especially in Jammu region, where opposition parties are raking up the demand for statehood vociferously. The narrative which was building up in Jammu is that why should Jammu suffer due to Kashmir. If peace is the yardstick then Jammu has always remain peaceful and to keep it deprived of the statehood cannot be justified. If the government is not interested in restoring Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood then Jammu can be turned into a separate state. Why is it necessary to club Jammu with the Valley?
Kashmir can remain a Union Territory till the peace returns and it can be a long run process. People of Jammu have realized that staying with Kashmir means more agonies and troubles for them and the voices to turn Jammu region into a separate entity are becoming shriller.
The developments which have taken place post August 5 this year are an indication that GoI doesn’t want to hand over the power to politicians from Kashmir anymore as the so-called mainstream leaders in the Valley have never remained loyal to the country. History stands testimony to the fact that these leaders during the past 70 years kept on harping about J&K’s accession with India being temporary and they left no opportunity to appease the people sitting across the Line of Control. On the other hand people of Jammu always opposed the narrative of Kashmir-centric leaders and have stood with the country like a rock.
National leaders and policy makers sitting in New Delhi should realize that people of Jammu deserve a better deal and linking them with Kashmir won’t resolve any big issue. J&K’s reorganization has ended the separatists’ narrative in Kashmir. It has also punctured the claims of the so-called mainstream leaders that they only can manage J&K. Turning J&K into a Union Territory has closed many shops forever and now Delhi has to ensure that these shops don’t reopen again. One can understand that it will take time for things to fall at place in Kashmir but that doesn’t mean Jammu will continue to suffer till Kashmir becomes normal. Granting statehood to Jammu needs to be considered seriously to address the aspirations of the people. |
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