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| Interlocutors have walked into the Kashmiris' dangerous trap | | Problem communal, not political | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 16: Radha Kumar, like Pakistan, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Yasin Malik, to mention only a few, says that Kashmir is a political problem that must be dealt with politically. She is absolutely wrong. Kashmir problem is neither political nor human. Nor is the Kashmir problem the product of unemployment in Kashmir. Nor is the Kashmir problem product of under-development in Kashmir. Kashmir problem is purely communal. Its origin lies in the two-nation theory. Its origin lies in an intolerant, exclusivist and regressive ideology.
Kashmir has been ruling the state and exploiting and humiliating the people of Jammu and Ladakh to the hilt ever since October 1947, when it acceded to the Indian Dominion. It has deprived Jammu of the political status it enjoyed between March 1846 and October 1947 and has been exercising unbridled political, legislative and financial powers. All the Chief Ministers of the State so far have been from the Kashmir Valley. Even Ghulam Nabi Azad, who served as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir for more than two years, was ethnically Kashmiri. All of them belonged to one particular sect - sect that is basically behind all the troubles facing the country in Kashmir. Omar Abdullah, who has been consistently queering the Indian pitch in Kashmir by making controversial statements, also belongs to Kashmir and to that particular religious sect to which all or nearly all the separatists in the Valley belong. It is the people of Kashmir and the followers of one particular religion who control almost all the vital portfolios or portfolios with political weight and considerable funds. Still the Kashmiri leadership says that the Kashmir problem is political and human. Still the likes of Radha Kumar vouch for what the Kashmiri leadership says.
The people of Kashmir have excessive and preponderant share of representation in the Legislative Assembly and in the Parliament, despite the fact that the number of voters in Kashmir province is less as compared to the number of voters in Jammu and Ladakh and despite the fact that the Kashmir Valley constitutes less than 10 per cent of the state's land area. They dominate the Assembly that decides questions of supreme importance to the well-being and happiness of the people. They, in fact, control the legislature. They dominate the Cabinet that takes policy decisions. They also dominate the Council of Ministers. The Jammu-based ministers are there in the Council of Ministers and the Cabinet, but it is the Kashmir-based ministers, including the Chief Minister, who carry the day and dictate terms for all practical purposes. They also share power at the Centre. And, still the Kashmiri leadership says that the Kashmir problem is political and human. Still the likes of Radha Kumar vouch for what the Kashmiri leadership says.
The people of Kashmir dominate the state's Civil Secretariat, the seat of power. They are the followers of a particular religion. Their share in the Civil Secretariat is more than 70 per cent, despite the fact that the followers of this sect constitute less than 28 per cent of the state's population. The people of Kashmir belonging to a particular religious sect and faith man over 98 per cent of the positions in the government and semi-government establishments, located in the Kashmir Valley. They also control nearly 25 per cent of the positions in the government and semi-government establishments, located in Jammu province and Ladakh region. Besides, it is Kashmir that has been dominating and controlling the recruitment agencies and rigorously excluding the Jammu and Ladakhi youth from the vital service sector. And, still the Kashmiri leadership says that the Kashmir problem is political and human. Still the likes of Radha Kumar vouch for what the Kashmiri leadership says. Still there are elements in New Delhi who urge the Central Government to take more and more confidence-building measures to end what they call "alienation" in the Kashmir Valley and conciliate the "alienated" people of Kashmir. Still there are "conflict-managers", "trouble-shooters", "think tank", "human rights" activists and "peaceniks" who want New Delhi to take care of Kashmir and its people and solve the so-called political and human problem. (To be continued) |
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