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| Has BJP abandoned Jammu to placate Kashmir? | | Dogra Certificate | | Neha
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, May 28: The BJP high command has, it appears, forgotten Jammu. It is talking about Kashmir and Ladakh and has nothing whatever in its political box for the people of Jammu province. It has nothing to say even about their petty demand that they should be issued Dogra certificates as per the March 25 decision of the state's revenue department - decision that was revoked on April 28 under pressure from Kashmiri separatists and anti-Dogra forces.
That the BJP high command has completely abandoned the Dogras of Jammu province could be seen from what the Rajnath Singh-led BJP 5-member parliamentary delegation said in Jammu and Srinagar on April 12, 13 and 14 and what it said on May 27 at New Delhi after concluding its almost 4-day-long visit to Ladakh.
In Jammu, Rajnath Singh had said: He and his colleagues would devise a roadmap that would be based on the concepts of "Insaaf and Insaaniyat" or on the cardinal principles of "Loktantra & Lokshahi" (democracy). In other words, he had announced that the BJP had decided to pursue the dangerous path that was charted by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee almost a decade ago - Vajpayee who is known for his Tangdhar statement that Article 370 shall ever remain part of the Indian Constitution. Vajpayee had negated the very concept of India as a sovereign state by putting forth his mind-boggling "solution-within-framework-of-Insaaniyat" formulation. His whole intention was to purchase peace in Kashmir and befriend Pakistan by compromising the age-old Indian stand on Jammu and Kashmir.
Rajnath Singh did not, it may be noted, suggest any roadmap for meeting the legitimate urges, aspirations and needs of the Dogras in Jammu while addressing reporters. He did not utter even a single word on the Dogra certificate controversy - controversy that had gripped the whole of the state then, with the anti-Dogra forces in Kashmir up in arms against the state government and New Delhi.
And, in Srinagar, Rajnath Singh reiterated what he had said in Jammu. In fact, he and his associates had identified themselves completely with the people of Kashmir. His whole approach was lop-sided. This, despite the fact that the Dogras had for the first time returned to the assembly as many as 11 BJP activists - right now these legislators are busy in washing dirty linen in public and accusing each other of violating the party whip and entering into an unholy alliance with the NC and the Congress. They have fallen from grace and rendered the party irrelevant in Jammu province.
If the attitude of the BJP delegation was quite positive towards Kashmir despite the fact that Kashmir has been ruling the state since decades and exploiting the people of Jammu and Ladakh, it has been no different towards Ladakh as well and for right reasons. Ladakh, like Jammu, is a victim and it is appreciable that the BJP has adopted a positive attitude towards it.
It is important to note that the BJP national chief spokesperson, Ravi Shankar Prasad, yesterday declared in New Delhi that the BJP study group on Jammu and Kashmir has decided to seek Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention so that special provisions are made for the people living in the border areas. His focus was on education and infrastructure like roads, besides on the threat from China. "The BJP team visited Leh and Kargil and heard the demands of the local people. Both Leh and Kargil have one college each. But their exams are held in winters when the temperature is -30 degree Celsius and the students have difficulty in writing. They want the exams to be held in summers…Rajnath Singh will write a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to press for the demands of these people. The BJP (would) ask the UPA Government to consider some of the genuine demands of the proud patriotic population of Kargil, Leh and Ladakh regions of Jammu and Kashmir in the right spirit to make them feel that the country responds to vibes… Some of the grievances aired during the delegation's visit were very simple that could be accommodated without much problem. The Muslim-dominated Kargil region openly proclaimed that they were proud to be a part of India so also the Budhist-dominated Leh and Ladakh regions, said Prasad.
All this should serve to demonstrate the BJP's negative attitude towards the Dogras. The Dogras are neither against Kashmir nor against Ladakh. They are for a dispensation that treats all the three regions equally in all spheres and at all levels. But they are opposed to is the discriminatory policies against them, including the move aimed at eroding their identity. Will the BJP, which so far has followed in the footsteps of the Congress as far as its policy towards Kashmir is concerned, change its policy towards the Dogras? It should. In fact, it is a must to win back the confidence of the Dogras, who have turned extremely hostile towards the BJP. The reason: Cross-voting by the BJP during the legislative council elections on an unprecedented scale. |
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