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| Congress must take on Jinnahs of Jammu and Kashmir | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 25: The situation as it exists today in Kashmir and in the Muslim-majority areas of Jammu province is very serious. Many Jinnahs are active in these areas. Their objective is to vitiate the political atmosphere in these areas, create communal tensions and fear among the followers of a particular religion, prepare them for a revolt against India and obtain independence from New Delhi. These Jinnahs are conducting themselves in these areas in which Mohammad Ali Jinnah had conducted. In fact, the methodology applied by the Jinnahs of Jammu and Kashmir is identical.
Those who have become very active in Kashmir and the Muslim-majority areas of Jammu province are operating from different platforms but suggesting solutions to the “Kashmir problem”, which, if accepted and implemented, would mean separation of Jammu and Kashmir from India at once or in stages. Some are demanding autonomy from India saying the withdrawal of Central laws from the state would resolve the “Kashmir issue” and satisfy the aspirations of the people of the state. Some are demanding self-rule from India saying not autonomy but self-rule can end the “Kashmir problem” and satisfy Pakistan, which, according to them, is also a party to the “Kashmir dispute”. Some are demanding independence from India saying that neither autonomy nor self-rule can resolve the “Kashmir tangle and independence of the state from both India and Pakistan alone could forge a lasting peace in South Asia. Some are demanding merger of the state with Pakistan saying Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state and, hence, its “merger with Pakistan is the only way out”. Some are demanding Indo-Pak joint mechanism saying the implementation of such a solution has the potential of satisfying India, Pakistan and the people of the state.
Interestingly, there are also some who are demanding a separate system for the people of what they call Chenab Valley and Poonch-Rajouri belt. They are demanding two autonomous councils for these areas – Chenab Valley autonomous council and Pir Panjal autonomous council. These Jammu-based Jinnahs are demanding separation of the erstwhile Doda district and Poonch-Rajouri belt on the ground that the Srinagar and Jammu-based leaders are “sipping the blood of the people” inhabiting these areas.
The most significant aspect of the whole situation is that there are elements in the political establishment who also belong to that category of persons who want the separation of Jammu and Kashmir from India. They call themselves secular and they say that their demands for autonomy and self-rule are secular and fall within the framework of the Indian Constitution. They belong to that group that believes that step-by-step approach is the best approach because it can be sold in the Indian political market. In fact, these elements have already succeeded in roping in many “conflict managers” and “opinion makers” in New Delhi and elsewhere who share the perceptions of the protagonists of autonomy and self-rule. Autonomy and self-rule literally mean one thing – system outside the Indian Constitutional framework or one step short of complete independence. This suits them because this system would hold the people of state aloof from the country and, at the same time, enable them to loot and plunder the Indian public money.
All this indicates that things in the state are going out of hand with each passing day. The Congress is a national party, which fought for the country’s independence and made supreme sacrifices in the process. It is its duty to resist and defeat those in the state who are busy in spoiling the Indian pitch in Jammu and Kashmir. It has defeated the anti-India forces in Kashmir in the past and it can do so again. As a matter of fact, the Congress is left with only one option: Take on the protagonists of autonomy, self-rule, independence, Pakistan, Chenab Autonomous Council and Pir Panjal Autonomous Council. If it fails to exercise this option, it would mean negation of all that it did before and after independence for the unity and integrity of India and against communal politics. (Concluded)
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