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| Maharaja would have liked self rule, Baig tells Jammu | | |
ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
Jammu, Nov 15: No would have spoken so high and nice of the last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh as the Peoples Democratic Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Muzaffar Hussain Baig today did. The event was a civil society interaction on party’s self rule proposal and reference to the Dogra ruler was to drive home a point that what Peoples Democratic Party is today projecting as a formula to settle the Kashmir problem was originally a concept of Maharaja Hari Singh –‘self rule’.
Addressing a 150 odd audience here this afternoon, the oratory asset of Peoples Democratic Party championed cause of Jammu in his nearly hour long speech as no other pro-Jammu scholar like Prof Hari Om or politician like Prof Chaman Lal Gupta could have done. The remedy, Baig suggested, self rule. How? Read on.
“Despite pocketing 24 per cent higher development spending then Kashmir, there is sense of deprivation and discrimination in Jammu which is genuine too”, said Baig as he went on to explain: “the political power has always remained in the hands of Kashmiri speaking people”. Here is chance to have an equal role and it comes with the self rule, he said.
The former Deputy Chief Minister was making a point that Jammu and Kashmir should have Sadr-e-Reyasat as the executive head instead of Governor and powers of his/her appointment should rest with the state legislature. Therefore, Article 358 (Clause 4) of the Constitution of India should go. “This is what Maharaja has wanted”, Baig informed as he interpreted to the audience from reading out Maharaja’s words on accession. This said, the rest is taken care of by self rule proposal: by constitutional provision, the Sadr-e-Reyasat will be once from Jammu, then from Kashmir, then Ladakh and then again from Jammu.
Reminding the audience that scion of Dogra dynasty Dr Karan Singh was Sadre-e-Reyasat till in 1965, Baig blamed the then state ruler GM Sadiq and then Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah for renaming the office and handing over the powers of appointment to New Delhi. “Maharaja (Hari Singh) would have never liked this”, quipped Baig striking an emotional chord with his Jammu audience. “Sheikh Saheb signed the constitution order 101 dated July 19, 1975 depriving the legislature of powers to appoint Sadr-e-Reyasat”, said Baig and regretted, “what a great deal of disservice”.
He said that article 249, article 356 and article 312 of the Indian constitutions should also go as Maharaja would never have liked provisions of any them extended to Jammu and Kashmir. In nutshell, he said, self was actually Maharaja’s concept.
He said "self-rule proposal is realistic and practical solution to address all dimensions of Kashmir problem. This is the best possible solution which is formulated by accommodating aspirations and wishes of all stake holders,"
The self rule aimed at creating Jammu and Kashmir as a bridge between India and Pakistan and both the countries would offer tariff reductions and develop this belt as Free Trade zone. Development of this area as free trade zone would attract maximum foreign direct investment, he suggested while elaborating the self-rule document. He made a reference towards resolution of SAARC to make South Asia as Trade Free Zone. “On experiment basis let us start his process from this region”, he said.
"Opening of some points on LoC for trade is a good beginning but lot more needed to be done", he said and emphasized on opening of all traditional routes on border. “Socio-economic growth of the State has been restricted after the partition due to plugging of all routes connecting Jammu and Kashmir with rest of the world”, he pointed out and opined that opening of all traditional routes would help socio-economic growth of the state.
"Our vision is to move towards an economic union which will maintain free trade in goods and service , set common external tariffs, allow free mobility of capital and labour and will also relegate some fiscal responsibilities to a supra-national agency", he said.
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