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| Inter-District Recruitment BILL: April 9 can make or mar the state government | | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 8: The Legislative Assembly will meet tomorrow to take into consideration the sensitive inter-district recruit bill, along with amendments moved by the Congress and the JKNPP. It will be a very crucial day for the NC-led coalition government. Any failure on the part of the floor managers may add to the difficulties of the government and it would not be easy to surmount them. The issue is so sensitive that it has assumed regional overtones. Any attempt on the part of the government to get the inter-district recruitment bill passed in its original form will not only culminate in the fall of the government but would also further embitter the already rather bitter inter-regional relations.
Besides, such an attempt would not only further strained relations between the two coalition partners, NC and Congress, but also create unrest in Jammu province on an unprecedented scale.
The battle lines are already drawn. The otherwise issueless BJP has asked the people of Jammu province to observe a complete shutdown on April 9. Its objective is two-fold - win over the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities by making common cause with them and create troubles for the Congress party in Jammu province.
The Gujjar Muslims have already exhibited their anger against the move seeking ban on inter-district recruitment. In fact, on Tuesday a large number of activists belonging to the various Gujjar organizations operating in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri held a massive demonstration on the Jammu-Poonch highway and disrupted the vehicular movement for hours together. They declared in so many words that they would not allow the authorities to tinker with the existing inter-district recruitment policy.
The state unit of the All-India Confederation of SC/ST and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) too has registered its vehement opposition to the idea of banning inter-district recruitment. In fact, on Tuesday, it administered a warning that any attempt on the part of the state government to ban inter-district recruitment would be met by a statewide agitation. Its state chief R K Kalsotra made the intentions of his organization loud and clear while talking to media persons. He asserted that their opposition is genuine and that the inter-district recruitment bill in its original form is totally unacceptable to the oppressed and extremely backward SCs, STs and OBCs.
The JKNPP has expressed its willingness to support the bill but with a condition. It has said that it would support the bill only if it keeps the SCs/STs and the OBCs out of the purview of the inter-district recruitment bill. If reports in a section of the print media are to be believed and if what JKPCC president Prof Saif-ud-Din said at Muthi a couple of days ago, then it can be presumed that the Congress also stands for a similar formula.
As for the PDP, which wants to use this sensitive issue to arouse popular passions and strengthen its communal constituency in Kashmir to harm the NC, has declared in unequivocal terms that it will support the bill only if it is moved in its original form as "recommended by the Select Committee of the House". Its president and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Mehbooba Mufti has even gone to extent of saying that the "issue of inter-district recruitment could lead to a disastrous situation in the state".
All this only serves to demonstrate that the task of the government is very difficult. It can surmount the problem if it is willing to accept the formula as suggested by the JKNPP. Any insistence on the part of the NC on adoption of the inter-district recruitment bill in its original form would divide the government vertically. And, if it happens, the result would be the fall of the government.
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