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| December 5 a day of good developments in Jammu and Kashmir | | DIRECT, MINCING NO WORDS | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 6: Yesterday was a great day in the otherwise unfortunate State of Jammu and Kashmir. And, the three persons who put things in perspective, called a spade a spade and raised people's spirits and rational and national hopes were National Conference president and Union Minister Farooq Abdullah, Minister of School Education and former JKPCC president Peerzada Mohammad Syed and Health Minister in the Omar Abdullah-led rag-tag coalition government Sham Lal Sharma.
Dr Farooq Abdullah took on the Kashmiri separatists and held them squarely responsible for the miseries and unrest in Kashmir. He declared in unequivocal terms that Jammu and Kashmir shall ever remain an integral part of India and that no power on earth can snatch even an inch of the Indian land in the state. He asked the Kashmiri separatists if they wanted to "build Kashmir of graveyards and ruins." He made these statements in the presence of his son and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who continues to rake up issues like the status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and resolution of the so-called Kashmir problem taking into consideration the "internal and external dimensions." Farooq Abdullah chose the birthday of his father Sheikh Abdullah as an opportunity to put in place those who have been questioning the status of the state and seeking to achieve the unachievable.
However, what was most significant was his blistering attack on his brother and former Cabinet Minister Mustafa Kamal and National Conference MP Sharief-ud-Din Shariq. He candidly told them: "Mind your words" and "do not make controversial and anti-India statements." He castigated Kamal in the presence of the people who had gathered to offer Fateh Khawani on the occasion of the 105th birth anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah at Naseembagh, Srinagar. Forget that he also sung the autonomy sang. He knows that New Delhi is not going to concede this communal demand. It is also doubtful if he is actually committed to the autonomy demand.
Equally significant was the statement of Peerzada. He told those displaced Kashmiri Hindus, who had gathered at the official resident of Omar Abdullah to get appointment orders under the Prime Minister's employment package, that "Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the accession of the state with the Union of India is unchallengeable." Peerzada made this statement in the presence of Omar Abdullah and what he said was a direct attack on the Chief Minister. That Peerzada took this stand in the official residence of the Chief Minister should inspire everyone in the state and also indicate very serious differences between the Congress and the National Conference.
And, even far more significant perhaps was the stand of Sham Lal Sharma on Jammu province, Kashmir region and trans-Himalayan Ladakh, as also on the protagonists of greater autonomy and self-rule. His solution that Jammu province be separated from Kashmir and granted the status of statehood, Ladakh be segregated from Kashmir and granted the Union Territory status and Kashmir be dealt with separately as it has been creating serious problems for India in the Valley and discriminating against the people of Jammu and Ladakh must have enthused the grossly ignored and politically marginalized people of Jammu and Ladakh and rattled everyone in Kashmir. He took this bold and very rational stand in the presence of none other than JKPCC chief Prof Saif-ud-Din Soz. What Sham Lal Sharma said yesterday at Bani while addressing a Congress rally was what the concerned people of this province have been consistently saying. He simply vindicated the stand of those in Jammu who firmly believe that the lasting solution to the problems being faced by the people of Jammu and Ladakh lies in the trifurcation of the state.
One can only hope that former Deputy Chief Minister Mangat Ram Sharma, Medical Education Minister RS Chib, Revenue and Rehabilitation Minister Raman Bhalla, Congress MPs Madan Lal Sharma and Choudhary Lal Singh and all others in the Congress party in Jammu province would jump on to the Sham Lal Sharma's statehood bandwagon and ensure segregation of Jammu province from Kashmir province at the earliest. This hope stems from the role they played in the month of August 2008 - role that forced the Congress high command and the Union Government to reallocate the Baltal land in Kashmir to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. They have the capacity to do wonders. In case they do what Sham Lal Sharma reflected on very comprehensively, they would win the next elections hands down. But more than that, they would serve the cause of the nation well.
December 5, in short, witnessed great developments. Let's us see what happens in the days to come. But it can be said that both the Congress and the National Conference are in a confrontation mode. |
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