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| Insistence on autonomy, self-rule might lead to J&K’s balkanization | | |
STARK REALITY
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 20: It was hoped that the ruling NC and the main opposition PDP would drop their demands – autonomy and self – rule considering the fact that the people of Jammu and Ladakh, who constitute no less than 50 per cent population in the state and occupy more than 89 per cent of the state’s geographical area, are vehemently opposed to these concepts. They are opposed to the idea of the state getting more autonomy and self-rule on the ground that these are divisive demands and that these demands, if accepted, would end the Indian presence in the state and enable Pakistan and fundamentalist forces in Kashmir to accomplish what they want to accomplish. Their view is that the grant of autonomy or self-rule would mean a step short of complete independence and that it happens, it would not really difficult for them to accomplish their most cherished aim of dismembering India. This view cannot be construed as something silly, as it well-founded.
It was also hoped that the NC and the PDP would review their stand on their demands taking into consideration the fact that Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive state, a mini India inhabited by different people, who draw their inspiration from two different philosophies – one all-embracing and liberal and the other exclusivist, intolerant and regressive. The hope had stemmed from the fact that the last few years have witnessed in the state umpteen developments all indicating that the political perceptions of the Kashmiri leadership and the people of Jammu and Ladakh are conflicting and mutually exclusive and that these contradictions are irreconcilable.
But neither the NC nor the PDP thought it prudent to take into consideration these stark realities. On the contrary, they on Saturday once again reiterated their respective stands, asserting that they would not accept anything short of what they have been demanding. While the NC declared that the grant of autonomy (read withdrawal of all the central laws and institutions from the state and re-establishment of a local oligarchy) alone could resolve the “Kashmir problem” and satisfy the urges of the people of the state (read Kashmiri leadership), the PDP once again said that the solution to the “Kashmir problem” lies only in “self-rule” (read autonomy plus economic independence, soft borders, dual currency, India-Pakistan joint control over Jammu and Kashmir or shared sovereignty and so on).
This means the NC and the PDP are not prepared to abandon their politics of competitive secessionism. It is not good development. It is important to note that it is extremely doubtful if the grant of autonomy or self-rule would restore peace in the Kashmir Valley. In fact, there are reasons to believe that it would further complicate matters in Kashmir, with the likes of Geelani and Mirwaiz upping their ante and mobilizing their communal and separatist constituencies in the Valley with a view to launching a final assault. But more than that, under the dispensation the NC and the PDP have been striving to achieve the life of the people of Kashmir would not be one of political and economic aspirations. Their life would be similar to the life of the people in POK and Gilgit-Baltistan and the plight of the latter is pathetic.
However, there are potent reasons to believe that the grant of autonomy or self-rule to the state at the behest of the Kashmiri leadership would surely provoke widespread protests in Jammu and Ladakh. There should be no doubt about it. The people of these two provinces are committed to holding their ground. They have registered in the past their most emphatic protests against those demanding autonomy and self-rule and they are committed to defeat the votaries of self-rule and autonomy.
It is hoped that the NC and the PDP would display political maturity and abandon the path of autonomy and self-rule. Their failure to writing on the wall would surely lead to the balkanization of the state. But more than that, the grant of autonomy or self-rule would result in nationwide protests, as the nation is against any kind of concession to terrorism and politics of blackmail and communalism. The nation wants the national unity and integrity and sovereignty to be preserved at any cost whatever.
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