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| Interlocutors' flawed approach: Conciliation of Jammu imperative | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 24: Kashmir-based separatist and "mainstream" organizations, including Jamat-e-Islami, APHC (M). JKLF, NC, PDP and so on, continue to express the view that no solution is possible without the involvement of Kashmiri Muslims. In fact, they have been only reiterating their old stand. They have not saying anything new. They have been saying so ever since Pakistan came into being and Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India as per the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947. The Delhi-appointed interlocutors have also been expressing almost similar views. They have been simply referring to the aspirations of the people of Kashmir and hinting at the possibility of resolution of the so-called political problem in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri leadership. Just look at what chief interlocutor Dileep Pagaonkar said yesterday at Srinagar while talking to reporters and see it for yourself that the attitude of the Kashmiri separatists and the interlocutors to Kashmir is no different. He had, among other things, said: "Finding a solution to the Kashmiris' aspirations should be pursued and confidence building measures should not overshadow the same." He didn't talk of the aspirations of the people of Jammu province.
Leaders of the Kashmir-based organizations are over-estimating their authority. Similarly, the interlocutors are behaving irresponsibly. They have been simply ignoring the fact that it is Jammu whose involvement in talks is imperative considering the fact that Kashmir is part of Jammu and not the vice-versa. It was Jammu to which Kashmir was added on March 16, 1846 under the Treaty of Amritsar. Kashmir has no locus standi. Nor do the leaders of the Kashmir-based organizations have any locus standi in the matter. Only the people of Jammu province can take a decision on the future status of Jammu and Kashmir. They and their ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh, had taken the decision on the state's accession and they and they alone are the chief determinant.
Even otherwise, Kashmir has no right to dictate terms and the interlocutors no right to air views that only cause resentment in Jammu. Kashmir is a highly prosperous region of the country. It has already caused enough of damage to the national cause and to the legitimate political, economic and social interests of the people of Jammu province. Kashmir has been ruling over Jammu and exploiting its people since October 1947, notwithstanding the fact that the Kashmir's very survival depends on the revenue the people of Jammu province contribute to the state exchequer everyday, as also on the money New Delhi pumps into the Valley on daily-basis. Courtesy: the unreasonable, the ambivalent and the questionable ruling elite of New Delhi. It is New Delhi that has pampered the Kashmir-based organizations and their unreasonable and controversial leaders, without any exception.
The exploiter cannot be an arbitrator. Similarly, the exploiter cannot have any grievance. The exploited are the people of Jammu province. They are the real victims whose human rights are violated ruthlessly by the Valley-based leaders. The exploited people of Jammu province are the chief determinants. They are the sole factor in the state's political situation. They need to be conciliated and they could be conciliated only if their grievances are redressed and sentiments appreciated, respected and fully accommodated. Their grievance is that they have never received their legitimate due share in the state's political and economic processes since 1947 and their aspiration is that they want to link their fate with New Delhi because they are part and parcel of the Indian civilization, as also because they and the Ladakhis inhabit over 90 per cent of the state's geographical area.
The Kashmiri leaders and the controversial interlocutors should forget that the people of Jammu, or for that matter all the non-Muslim minorities, including the Kashmiri Hindu refugees, and ethnic minorities like the tribal Gujjars and Bakerwals, would ever allow them to take a decision on the state's political future. They have not allowed them such freedom in the past. Nor would they allow them this freedom in any foreseeable future.
Notwithstanding the fact that the people of Jammu province constitute the most neglected lot in the state, they have umpteen times demonstrated their strength against those seeking a dispensation outside the Indian Constitution. It is hardly necessary to refer to those instances here that prove this point, as the Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion know all this in their heart of hearts. They know that it is the people of Jammu who have all along acted as millstones around the Kashmir's neck and not allowed it to go out of India.
Not only the Kashmiri leaders, who continue to over-estimate their authority, even New Delhi knows it full well that there exists in the state Jammu province, which will react violently in the event of the authorities in the Union Capital taking a decision that runs counter to what they have been striving to achieve since 1947. In other words, both the Kashmiri leaders and the authorities in New Delhi are fully aware of the Jammu's temperament, mood and methodology.
So, none cannot ignore the people of Jammu province. To ignore them would be to provoke political explosions in Jammu province or to provoke the people of Jammu province to come on the streets and bring everything to a grinding halt. The memories of what the people of Jammu province did in 2008 are too fresh to be forgotten. But this is just one example. The interlocutors should not ignore this fact. The sooner it is recognized the better it would be. Don't under-estimate Jammu. |
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