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| Needed: A white paper on the status of J&K to clear confusion | | | Rustam
JAMMU, Apr 2: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah says that financial and employment packages cannot end unrest in Kashmir. He also says that Jammu and Kashmir is a political problem that needs a political solution. He, in addition, consistently accuses New Delhi of going back on its promises made from time to time with the people of Kashmir and urges it to respect the same so that the political status of the state is determined once for all and the Kashmir issue resolved to the satisfaction of the people of Kashmir.
The National Conference (NC) president and Union Minister for renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah also says the same thing and, like his son, urges New Delhi to fulfill the solemn promises it made at the time of the state's accession. He, like his son, holds the view that the prime cause responsible for the alienation of the people of Kashmir is the failure of New Delhi to honour its commitments and that the political future of the state has not yet decided. In the same breath, however, he also says that Pakistan cannot grab an inch of land from India and that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, but these assertions are meaningless. These are simply designed to hoodwink New Delhi for reasons not really difficult to understand. The NC is known for speaking differently at different places.
Significantly, the attitude of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Kulgam-based CPI-M towards New Delhi is no different. Both the parties, like the NC, do not consider J&K as an integral part of India in the real sense of the term. They dub New Delhi as a sinner and the mother of all ills afflicting Kashmir. They, like the NC, are of the view that the issue of Kashmir has yet to be resolved and that the political status of Kashmir yet to be determined. They also accuse New Delhi of not respecting the promises it made at the time of the state's accession and thereafter.
As for the Tehrik-e-Hurriyat of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the All-Party Hurriyat Conference of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the JKLF of Yasin Malik, the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party of Shabbir Shah, the People's Conference of Sajjad Lone, to mention only a few, all these formations urge New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with the commitments made by New Delhi from time to time. That Geelani stands for merger with Pakistan, Mirwaiz for the Musharraf formula (shared sovereignty) as a first step towards the final resolution and Malik, Shah and Lone for complete independence is a different story. Suffice it to say that they want segregation of the state from India, saying the Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory.
In other words, there is consensus among Kashmiri leaders of all shades of opinion and the consensus is that Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed territory and that New Delhi has made several promises, which it has not fulfilled. As for the common people, they do not know anything. They do not know which promises were held out and who held out the promises and what those promises provided for. They are simply a confused lot. Even after 63 years of the state's accession they do not know what is their political status.
Both the Kashmiri leadership and New Delhi are responsible for making the prevailing confusion worse confounded. No one is prepared to tell the truth to the people of the state and, hence, there prevails in the state a state of uncertainty. This is not good for the people of the state, as also for the country as a whole. The people need to be informed as to the exact position and it can be done with utmost ease. The state government, which is right now under the control of the NC, simply has to issue a white paper containing all the details on the promises made, the nature and implications of the promises made, details on the broken promises and the persons who held out the promises and not honoured them. The white paper should also contain minute details on what successive governments in the state did to make New Delhi honour the commitments. Everything has to be in black and white. This is the only alternative left. The other alternative is stop accusing New Delhi of breaking the so-called promises. In other words, the Kashmiri leaders have to tell their respective constituencies that the accession of the state to India is legal, final and non-negotiable. |
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