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| …It will pit regions against one another | | | SANT KUMAR SHARMA
Jammu, January 9: Autonomy has remained, since the days of accession, the heartbeat of the people of the state. Today, we find that the State has lost all resemblance to autonomy. Its erosion is the primary cause for Kashmir discontent.
The above paragraph is a verbatim reproduction from chapter 1 (Introduction) of the report of the State Autonomy Committee (SAC) report.
Mark the use of word Kashmir in the first paragraph. Kashmir has been used as a shorthand for the state of Jammu & Kashmir which encompasses the three distinct regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Mark also the last sentence of the first paragraph.
It says the ``erosion (of autonomy) is the primary cause for Kashmir discontent’’. It does not say or claim that the people of Jammu or Ladakh are aggrieved against the ``erosion of autonomy’’.
In fact, the people of Ladakh region, particularly Leh district if you want to be very specific, have been demanding Union Territory (UT) status. The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA), in 1989 (over 20 years ago) and later the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) have led this demand.
The Ladakhis seem to believe that by being directly ruled by Delhi, their cause will be served better. They are thus clearly not seeking more powers for the government of Jammu & Kashmir but wanting to come out of its stranglehold.
The Ladakhis are, therefore, opposing autonomy for the state government as it will make them more dependent on it.
The problem being faced by the Ladakhis is that the region is presently included in the geographically contiguous Kashmir division and administered from Srinagar. And from Srinagar, the peculiar problems of Ladakh look so remote and remain largely unattended.
This has alienated the Ladakhis from the state government and they firmly believe that moving out of the state of Jammu & Kashmir is the only way forward for them.
Let us now discuss the aspirations of the people of the Jammu region. Are they supporting the demand of autonomy?
A resounding no is the answer as the National Conference (NC) which is leading the demand for autonomy could win only five of 37 seats in the entire Jammu region.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won 11 seats in 2008 assembly elections in Jammu, is firmly opposed to the grant of autonomy for J&K. In the year 2000, it had outrightly rejected the NC’s demand for autonomy even though the NC was part of the grand alliance called the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the BJP.
Till date, the Congress has officially maintained a stoic silence on the issue of autonomy. Of course, state party chief Saiffuddin Soz has said that the demand can be discussed but discussion does not mean acceptance.
Let us be clear about one thing here. A decision regarding the grant of autonomy for J&K or its rejection is not Mr Soz’s prerogative. It lies in the domain of the central leadership of the Congress. The troika that will ultimately decide the fate of the autonomy demand comprises Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Given the fact that a majority of the seats won by the Congress have come from the Jammu region, it is difficult to imagine that the Congress legislators will back the autonomy demand.
For now, a more equitable development programme, in which all the three regions of Jammu (approximately 26,000 square kilometre), Kashmir (approximately 16,000 square kilometres) and Ladakh (approximately 60,000 square kilometre) are willing participants and not pulling in different directions appears to be way forward. Not autonomy.
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