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| 2011 may prove crucial for Jammu | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Dec 31: Almost all the major political players in Jammu province appear one as far as the issue of discrimination with Jammu is concerned. There also appears a consensus among them on another major issue, the political future of the Jammu province.
As for the issue of discrimination, the BJP, the Congress and the JKNPP suggested in 2010 that time had come for ending discrimination with Jammu province. They also suggested some mechanisms to surmount the age-old problem. The BJP recommended provincial council as a solution to the Jammu problem. The Panthers Party suggested that reorganization of the state and establishment of regional assembly in Jammu could end discrimination. The Jammu-based Congress leaders publicly acknowledged that some mechanism was needed to remove regional imbalances. They expressed this view only on December 28 in the presence of JKPCC chief and former Congress national spokesperson.
Earlier on December 5, the Health Minister had suggested trifurcation of the state. A couple of days later his brother and MP practically endorsed his views and took on even the Chief Minister using rather harsh words. One senior Congress leader even demanded rotational chief minister-ship saying Jammu also had the right to lead the government. He said so thrice in as many months. It indicated the shape the things would assume in the coming days.
All this shows that while all these major political players minced no words when they reflected on the discriminatory policies against Jammu province and demanded its empowerment, they differed with each other as far as their methodology was concerned. They did not, like the Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, spoke in one voice. In Telangana region, everyone demanded statehood for their region, saying they shall not accept anything short of it. The Congress and the BJP also spoke the same language. There are reasons to believe that the Jammu-based Congress and BJP leaders would also imitate the Telangana leadership sooner than later. For, the issue is clear and only difference on the methodology are to be ironed out.
However, to refer to the contradiction between the Jammu-based leaders and the Telangana leadership is not to suggest that the former would continue to behave in 2011 in the manner they behaved in 2010. The pressure from below is such that all the major political players in Jammu province will have to evolve some joint strategy and defeat the anti-Jammu forces, wherever they are and whosoever they are. Discrimination with Jammu has become talk of the town and no political party in Jammu can afford to ignore this reality.
Hence, 2011 may witness a full-scale struggle between those demanding the region's real and effective empowerment and those who considered Jammu as a colony of Kashmir. Besides, 2011 Jammu may also witness a power struggle between the Congress and the National. The Jammu-based are convinced that any kind of truck between them and the Kashmir-based leaders Conference is not in their interest. The Jammu-based Congress leaders are also convinced that the Continuation of National Conference leader as Chief Minister beyond 2011 shall only mar the electoral prospects of the Congress party in Jammu province.
Besides, the major political players in Jammu province are also convinced that Kashmiri leadership is quite unreasonable and that it has to be defeated because its demands ranging from greater autonomy to self-rule to independence to join control to joint mechanism to demilitarization and to what not are not only against the country's paramount interests but also run counter to the Jammu's sentiment. All the Jammu-based political leaders, barring those belonging to the Kashmir-based and Kashmir-centric outfits, know it full well that their friendly gestures towards the Kashmiri leaders would simply annoy the people of Jammu province. The BJP, the Panthers Party, the Jammu unit of the Congress party and almost all the socio-political groups in Jammu sing the same song: J&K shall ever remain an integral part of India.
This means 2011 would also witness a fierce struggle between the integrationists and the protagonists of autonomy, self-rule and independence. It can be said 2011 would be the year of Jammu, with New Delhi finding it extremely difficult to bypass the people of this province in its desperate bid to further appease and please the Valley leadership. Wait and see what Jammu leadership actually does in Jammu in 2011. |
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