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| To call it an all-party meeting would be a misnomer | | DELHI MEET ON J&K | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 12: As expected, the initiative of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ascertain the views of the various political parties on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and discuss ways and means to surmount the problem India is facing in the state has evoked a very sharp reaction in Jammu, leave aside Kashmir where all the leaders, without any exception, are against India one way or the other. The people of Jammu have not only rejected out-of-hand the Prime Minister’s comments on autonomy, notwithstanding the fact that he made it loud and clear that New Delhi would be willing to consider the demand for autonomy only if there is “consensus” on this controversial issue, but also questioned the very composition and complexion of the so-called all-party meeting. They have said that the Prime Minister did not invite those who are actually alienated both from Kashmir and New Delhi because of their Valley-centric policies and that by not inviting the representatives of the alienated sections of the society in Jammu, the Prime Minister has once again proved that New Delhi is concerned more with the already overfed, over-developed, pampered and appeased Kashmir. “This approach is not acceptable to them,” they have said.
The critics of the Prime Minister do make a point when they question the composition and complexion of the all-party meeting, held in New Delhi on Tuesday, and bemoan and regret the conspicuous absence of those in the meeting who have been suffering politically, economically and socially ever since October 1947, when New Delhi transferred political power from Jammu to Kashmir in a hush, hush manner and threw in the lot of the unwilling people of Jammu and Ladakh with the Kashmiri leadership whose anti-Jammu credentials were too well-known.
What was the composition of the meeting? Or, who were invited by the Prime Minister to take part in the meeting? The Prime Minister invited representatives of all the Jammu and Kashmir political parties, who are directly and indirectly responsible for the Kashmir mess. At the same time, his advisors ensured the exclusion of those struggling since decades to obtain what is their legitimate due share in the state’s political, economic and social processes. They did not invite those representing the hapless, poor and abandoned refugees from West Pakistan, who do not enjoy the right to own immovable property in the state and acquire state government jobs and who do not have the right to take part in the assembly and local-bodies elections; who do not have the right to obtain loan from banks and the right to acquire higher and technical education.
Nor did the Prime Minister and his team of advisors think it prudent to invite representatives of the refugees from Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir and representatives of the border migrants of 1965 and 1971. They were rigorously excluded. The refugees from Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir have been struggling since 1947 to get compensation, but with no result. Similarly, the border migrants have been crying for justice since decades, but the authorities in New Delhi, at the behest of the Kashmir-centric successive governments in the state, have not taken any substantial measure whatsoever to mitigate the hardships of the refugees and the migrants.
Paradoxically, the Prime Minister also did not invite any representative of the community of internally displaced Kashmiri Hindus. The exclusion of any representative of this persecuted community, which quit Kashmir in early 1990 to escape the wrath of the Islamic radicals and save their life, dignity, culture and religion. This community and the refugees from West Pakistan, refugees from the Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir and border migrants have been the worst sufferers. They should have been invited and patiently listened to. The Prime Minister should have assuaged the hurt feelings of these persecuted and neglected communities. But he didn’t do that. He sought to put all the eggs in the basket of those who have brought the situation in the state to such a sorry pass. If his initiative has failed to break the ice or if his initiative has evoked a very strong reaction in Jammu as well as in the localities inhabited by the refugees and migrants of all varieties, he himself is responsible. Hence, to call the Delhi meeting as an all-party meeting would be a misnomer. It was not an all-party meeting.
It is obvious that there are certain elements in the establishment in New Delhi who are guided solely by the Valley interests. In other words, the Kashmiri leaders, barring those representing the persecuted Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs, are well-entrenched in the New Delhi’s corridors of power. They have connections at right places and the result is a policy that rigorously excludes the marginalized and persecuted communities from each and every process and that takes extraordinary care of Kashmir and those elements in Kashmir who hate, bleed, browbeat, blackmail and fleece the Indian nation.
This policy would not do any longer. This is quite evident from the adverse response the Prime Minister’s initiative has evoked from Jammu. The Prime Minister must redesign his policy. He should focus his attention on the marginalized and ignored communities, instead of focusing his attention on those who not the friends of India and who stand for a regressive and primitive ideology.
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