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| Kashmiri leadership on tenterhooks, Jammu's psyche asserting | | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 23: Jammu's psyche has started asserting. The proceedings in the current budget session do indicate that the Jammu of 2010 is not what it hitherto used to be. The Jammu of 2010 is different. It is asserting. It is articulating its aspirations and it is behaving in a manner that makes one believe that Jammu can no longer be taken for a ride. The people of Jammu province, who suffered gross discrimination during all these 63 years at the hands of the state's Kashmir-dominated ruling elite, have come to realize the danger that lay before them if they remained devoid of political activity much longer of being submerged under the rising tide of "nationalism" as represented by the Kashmiri leaders of all hues.
Developments that have unfolded in Jammu province from time to time after 2008 point to the fact that the people of this province are no more prepared to accept the position of servitude and subordination for an indefinite period and that they want an effective and real say in the governance of the state. In other words, the people of Jammu province are getting impatient; they want nothing less than self-government; they want to break the connection with Kashmir.
The truth is that there is growth of new spirit in Jammu. Almost everyone sing the same song - the ruling elite in the state cannot go on governing in the same old spirit; the ruling elite cannot ignore Jammu and its aspirations, needs and psyche. The ruling elite has got to deal with the people of Jammu and the Jammu problems whatever the ruling elite may think of them.
Not that the people of Jammu province did not assert their psyche before 2008. They did assert it a number of times, especially during 1952-53, 1966-67, 1979-81 and 1998. The dismissal of Sheikh Abdullah in 1953, the appointment of Gajendragadkar Commission and the Wazir Commission and the establishment of Mata Vaishno Devi and agriculture universities in Jammu in the 90s were the immediate fall-outs of the Jammu's assertion. However, what happened in Jammu during June-August 2008 (agitation over Baltal land controversy) was the most vocal expression of what Jammu stood for. The Kashmiri leadership and New Delhi had to recognize that the people of Jammu province were a very important factor in the state and that it would counterproductive to overlook their psyche. They had to yield and they yielded.
That the people of Jammu province have become very vigilant and that they understand the implications of the official moves have become further evident from their very hostile attitude towards the anti-daughters' Permanent Resident (Disqualification) Bill, divisive Chenab Valley autonomous council resolution adopted by the Legislative Council, move to ban inter-district recruitment, discriminatory policies being devised and implemented and so on. That they have become fully conscious can also be seen from their vehement opposition to the demands seeking autonomy and self-rule for the state.
The manner the opposition parties are opposing each and every official move in the current budget session and the behaviour of the Jammu-based Congress leaders, which is not helping the Kashmiri leadership, could also be construed as a manifestation of the assertion of the Jammu's psyche.
But these are only a few examples indicating that Jammu's psyche is asserting and keeping the Kashmiri leadership on tenterhooks. That's the reason the government has started dithering on the issues it holds very dear. It would be better if the ruling elite befriends the people of Jammu province by adopting policies based on the principle of justice and equity. Not to do so or to continue to govern in the same old style would mean forcing the people of Jammu province to work for the state's division. This is a fact. |
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