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| Why Kashmiri leadership opposes separation of Jammu from Kashmir? | | Role of BJP-JKNPP-JSM - II | | Neha
JAMMU, Mar 13: Why do the Kashmiri leaders oppose the division of the state or why do they oppose the demand in Jammu for its separation from Kashmir? They oppose it on several counts. They oppose it because the moment Jammu province gets segregated from Kashmir, the latter would turn pauper in no time. Jammu province is the backbone of the Kashmir's economy. The people of Jammu province contribute more than 70 per cent revenue to the state exchequer ever year. It is the Jammu province that - apart from New Delhi - caters to the financial needs of Kashmir. Kashmir's economy cannot sustain even for a day if Jammu stops paying revenue to the state government.
That it is Jammu which contributes more revenue to the exchequer could be seen from what Finance Minister said on the floor of the Assembly on March 11. He, among other things, said: "Enhanced tax collection from Jammu compared to Kashmir is due to the fact that the entry to the State is through Jammu only (Lakhanpur) and payment of the entry tax and toll tax takes place there only…The Motor spirit Tax of around Rs 450 crore is being paid by oil companies at Jammu only but used throughout the State…Many national and multi-national companies have their establishments located at Jammu only and their toll tax amounting to around Rs. 450 crore is also being collected at Jammu only. All this works out to a whooping sum of Rs 1330 crore which actually is the revenue to the State and not to a specific province." He did not inform the House as to the scale of revenue the Kashmir province contributes to the exchequer. The reasons are not difficult to fathom. At the same time, however, he did not forget to make it clear that Jammu and Kashmir is one political entity. Again, the reasons are easily understandable.
Jammu province not only constitutes the Kashmir economy's backbone, but it is also a region that is rich in green-gold and water resources. The bulk of the area in Jammu province is covered by dense forests and it is a great source of revenue. Similarly, the Chenab River in Jammu province has the capacity to produce more than 17,000 MW of electricity every year. The Kashmiri leadership knows the significance of the Chenab River and that's the reason it has always kept its eyes on it. Kashmiri leadership, like Pakistani leadership, would never ever allow the people of Jammu province to make optimum use of the Chenab waters because they know the same has the potential of converting Jammu province into one of the most prosperous regions in the country. Progress of Jammu would automatically mean economic degeneration of Kashmir.
Besides the Chenab waters and dense forests, Jammu region is also rich in terms of other natural resources like coal and sapphire. These natural resources constitute two other additional sources of revenue for the state (read Kashmir). Yet another factor that makes Jammu province more significant in economic terms is its geographical location. It is linked with the rest of the country by a communication network that induces the outside investors to invest in Jammu, which also remains peaceful for most of the time - pre-condition for the development of any area and its people. Not only this, labour is easily available in Jammu and it comprises the needy people from Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, parts of Uttar Pradesh, and even parts of Bengal. It is, however, a different story that the State Government has never ever taken any step to promote industries in the Jammu province. The growth of industry in Jammu is the fall-out of the private effort/private enterprise. The State Government simply earns revenue out of this private effort. And, the State Government means something different in Jammu province. Everyone knows it.
The truth, in short, is that it is Jammu province that caters to the financial needs of Kashmir. How could the Kashmiri leadership allow Jammu province to go out of its stranglehold? But things have of late started changing in Jammu province, with parties like the BJP, the JKNPP, the JSM and other Jammu-based social groups and small political formations taking up the Jammu issue in a big way and demanding for Jammu a fair share in the governance and economy of the state, notwithstanding their failure to come on a common platform. The Kashmiri leadership can't afford to behave in the manner in which it consistently behaved after 1947. It has to change its attitude towards the people of Jammu province, who are now no more prepared to accept the position of servitude or subordination. They want parity with Kashmir and their wish cannot be ignored. To ignore it would be to hasten the process of the state's disintegration - process that has already been set-into-motion. The people of Jammu do need a fair treatment. They have suffered much, despite the fact that they have, unlike the privileged people of Kashmir, contributed to the exchequer on a massive scale. (Concluded) —Early Times Report |
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