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| Kashmir issue a Muslim issue by any yardstick -- II | | |
STARK REALITY
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES EPORT
JAMMU, Mar 31: The Kashmir problem is the brainchild of those who want the separation of Kashmir from India on purely religious grounds or on the basis of two/three-nation theory and that only one particular sect, which is well-entrenched and highly prosperous and has been ruling the state and exploiting all others since 1947, is involved in the ongoing separatist movement in Kashmir.
The very fact that a particular sect, which has established its complete stranglehold over the state's political, economic, administrative and social institutions, including universities and professional colleges, is involved in the separatist and extremist activities should clinch the whole issue and establish that the likes of the Mirwaiz are seeking to conceal the truth that is universally known. That they have no stable and strong support-base in the Valley could be seen from the humiliating defeat of the Late Abdul Gani Lone's son, People's Conference chairman and author of "Achievable Nationhood", Sajjad Gani Lone, in the 2009 parliamentary elections. It bears recalling that the so-called great secessionist leader and son-in-law of the JKLF founder Amanullah Khan, Sajjad Lone, could not lead in any of the Assembly segments, including his hometown Assembly constituency that had returned his father to the Assembly on a couple of occasions.
It is an altogether different story that certain elements in New Delhi and a number of persons outside India describe the Kashmiri separatists as the most important factors in the Kashmir's political situation and "true representatives of the people of Kashmir" and want New Delhi to engage them in order to find a lasting solution to the "Jammu and Kashmir problem". In fact, these elements have on occasions succeeded in making the real authorities in the South and North Blocks, which house the offices of Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Defence Minister and Home Minister, to initiate a dialogue process with separatists like the Mirwaiz, but with no result.
The generous New Delhi wants to give concessions to Kashmir through the separatists. But its problem is that the people of Jammu and Ladakh, displaced Kashmiri Hindus, and even the Gujjar and Bakerwal Muslims and Shiite Muslims have, instead of becoming part of the solution, become part of the problem. To be more precise, this category of people, who constitute nearly 78 per cent of the state's population and over 92 per cent of the state's land area, is acting as a stumbling block or as a millstone around the Kashmir's neck.
It is an established fact that whenever New Delhi indicates its intention to give some concessions at the behest of the Kashmiri leaders, the people of Jammu and Ladakh and a number of religious and ethnic minorities in the state come in its way, thus derailing everything. They did it 1952-53, 1975, 2000, and even thereafter on several occasions. As a matter of fact, it was because of their role and pressure that New Delhi, instead of giving more autonomy to Kashmir, brought the state under the ambit of hundreds of Central laws and institutions and even did away with the offices of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam. New Delhi changed these nomenclatures in 1965 and brought the state at par with other states of the Union by abolishing these offices and replacing the same with the offices of Governor and Chief Minister.
The position as it exists today in the state is that it is the Indian Constitution that is reigning supreme, notwithstanding Article 370, which has become redundant for all practical purposes. It would not be an exaggeration if someone says that Kashmir rules over the state politically and Jammu and Ladakh rule over the state ideologically. It is clear that it is ideology that matters. The Kashmiri Muslim leadership is exercising political authority and yet it is unhappy and demanding separation. The people of Jammu and Ladakh and displaced Kashmiri Hindus, who have otherwise suffered, and continue to suffer even now, in political and economic terms, are enjoying ideological supremacy. They are confident that they would defeat each and every move of New Delhi that is designed to bypass them and give any concession to Kashmir that is not consistent with their ideological commitment.
This is the stark reality. The Mirwaiz and others of their ilk may try their level best to pressurize New Delhi in order to make it yield, but at the end of the day they would fail as it happened in the past. The reason is that New Delhi is convinced that any attempt on its part to tinker with the Indian Constitution in order to accommodate the sectarian agenda of the Kashmiri leadership would prove counterproductive or would create more problems in the state than resolving the existing ones. (To be continued)
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