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| Mr Noorani, J&K neither South Tyrol nor Aaland Islands | | |
STARK REALITY -- II
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 22: As for the handing over the Aaland Islands to Finland and South Tyrol to Italy is concerned, the students of history of First World War and its consequences know it full well that the occupation of the Aaland Islands and South Tyrol by Sweden and Austria, respectively, unlike the constitutional merger of Jammu and Kashmir with India, was not unlawful, and that both Finland and Italy were the rightful claimants to the transferred areas. That a particular system of management of and control over these areas was adopted is a different story. Hence, Noorani just cannot equate Jammu and Kashmir with Aaland Islands and South Tyrol. Nor can anyone equate Jammu and Kashmir with Trieste over which former Yugoslavia and Italy exercised joint-control. Trieste was a disputed region between the Solvenian Republic of former Yugoslavia and Italy till 1954.
A G Norani and others of his ilk like Praful Bidwai, another biased and pro-separatist commentator, boldly ask New Delhi to rectify the past mistakes. While so doing they overlook the stark reality that the Indian Army joined the State Forces only on October 27, 1947, a day after Maharaja Hari Singh executed the Instrument of Accession under the terms and conditions of Britain’s transfer of power to India and Pakistan, to perform legitimate duty to not only check the Pakistani advance towards Srinagar but also to liberate the 83,294 sq km land area (and the Indian people it housed) the “aggressor” had illegally captured between August 22 and October 27 after rape, murder and pillage. (This area also included the one – 5,180 sq mile – which Islamabad later ceded to China for the strategic Sino-Pak Link Road of Karakoram Highway. China itself has annexed an area of 37,555 sq km in the Aksai Chin region of Jammu and Kashmir so as to link itself with Tibet).
In other words, the likes of Noorani ignore or underplay the hard reality that it was Pakistan that created the Kashmir problem in 1947 by invading the princely state. The war Mohammad Ali Jinnah began on August 14, 1947 to finish the “unfinished agenda of the partition” still continues unabated although officially ended on November 1, 1949, under the UN-sponsored cease-fire. And, at a time when General K M Carriapa was about to implement his plans meticulously worked out to liberate Domel and Muzzaffrabad in Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir and some of the Northern Territories Pakistan had grabbed and when the Indian Army had the Pakistani invaders – regular and irregular – on the run.
Noorani says, “Jammu’s concerns must be met. Under the ‘regional formula’ of Punjab in 1965, two regional committees of the assembly were set up comprising MLAs of the Punjabi and Hindi speaking regions. Each enjoyed a virtual veto on 14 specified topics dealing with social and economic development.” What is the meaning of what he says? He says New Delhi should make Jammu and Kashmir an autonomous state, with both India and Pakistan enjoying equal status in the Indian Jammu and Kashmir, and within that autonomous state the people of Jammu province should be given some powers so that they could take care of some of their social and economic needs. He wants the powers-that-be to set up two regional committees consisting of members of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for the purpose.
But Noorani conveniently, nay deliberately, overlooks two important facts: (1) The regional formula that he talks about had collapsed in no time and Punjab was subsequently trifurcated into three full-fledged States of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. (2) The problem of Jammu is purely political. The people of the province not only want a dispensation of their own in order to manage and regulate their own socio-cultural and politico-economic affairs themselves but also want to merge themselves completely with the national mainstream, whatever it is. They have nothing to do with those demanding autonomy or self-rule or independence. In fact, they are bitterly opposed to such divisive and communal concepts.
Noorani and others of his ilk must stop their misinformation campaign. They have already caused enough of damage, polluted the Indian polity and vitiated the atmosphere in Jammu and Kashmir. They should understand that Jammu and Kashmir is a very complex issue and that several factors need a very careful handling. (Concluded)
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