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| Congress represents Kashmir not Jammu | | Flawed Assertion | | Neha
EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, June 22: Home Minister P Chidambaram yesterday told the 37-member Congress deputation at Srinagar that the Congress party "alone has the capacity to represent the view point of people in all the three regions." The Kashmir-based senior Congress leaders met the Home Minister yesterday to discuss the nature of relationship between their party and the National Conference and register their protest against the latter. Their objective was to convince the Home Minister that they were not treated with respect by the National Conference and that something concrete action was needed so that their views and sentiments were respected by the National conference leadership, especially the Chief Minister and other National Conference ministers.
It was in response to the concerns shown by the Congress deputation that the Home Minister said that the "Congress alone has the capacity to represent the viewpoint of all the three regions." His concrete suggestion was that there was the "need for making co-ordination committee of the two parties more vibrant for resolving important issues effectively." The so-called coordination committee has, it needs to be underlined, not met even once during the past twelve months. To be more exact, the Home Minister didn't pay any heed to the passionate pleas made by the Congress deputation. In other words, the Congress deputation came out of the meeting minus everything. This was one aspect that indicated the Home Minister's indifferent attitude towards his own party.
The other aspect, and which was more striking, was the assertion of the Home Minister regarding the Congress' ability/capability of representing the viewpoint of all the three regions of the state. It was here that he crossed the line. He exaggerated things and sought to convey an impression that the Congress treats all the three regions equally or it pays equal tension to the issues facing different people inhabiting different regions. His assertion was as flawed as it was unconvincing. What he said was absolutely incorrect.
The fact of the matter is that the Congress has never ever cared for Jammu and Ladakh. Right from the day of the state's accession with India, the Congress has been ignoring Jammu and Ladakh in its desperate bid to placate Kashmiri and Kashmiri leadership. All of its actions as well as the actions of the Union Government have been Kashmir-centric with Jammu and Ladakh not getting their due in the state's socio-economic and political processes. So much so that the Congress and the Union Government have rendered Jammu and Ladakh unreal and ineffective for all practical purposes. The truth is that the Congress and the Union Government have created an environment under which Jammu and Ladakh have no other option but to suffer political and economic losses at the hands of the Kashmiri leadership. But more than that, these losses are coupled with humiliations and taunts. For example, whenever the Dogras demand justice and proper share in the state's political and economic processes, the Kashmiri leadership joins hands against them and the Congress and the Union Government make common cause with the Kashmiri leadership. Some even condemn the Dogras as "anti-Kashmir" and "communal."
It's no wonder then that the Dogras and Ladakhis are feeling totally alienated from the Congress and New Delhi and putting forth demands ranging from statehood to reorganization to Union Territory status. Again, it's no wonder that the Leh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) has acused both the state government and New Delhi of "betraying" Ladakh. The fact is that it is only Kashmir that is on the top of the Congress high command's and the Union Government's agenda with Jammu and Ladakh only entitled to get crumbs.
The fact that the authorities in New Delhi have not established in Jammu the promised Central University despite several protests in Jammu and the fact that the Congress and the Union Government joined hands with the National Conference on the issue of Dogra certificate should clear all the cobwebs of confusion and establish that the Congress represents only Kashmir. But these are only two instances. One can count here hundreds and hundreds of instances to prove the point that the Congress and the Union Government were for Kashmir and are for Kashmir and that the Congress represents only the Kashmir's viewpoint. |
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