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| Ad-hoc Measures Add to Regional Tensions in J&K | | | Balraj Puri | 7/19/2011 11:21:11 PM |
| Assassination of a moderate Kashmiri leader and Ahl-e-Hadees president, Maulana Showkat Ahmad Shah, inside a Srinagar mosque on April 8 had sharply polarised the separatist politics of the Valley. Around the same time, the announcement of the government to issue a Dogra certificate to citizens of Jammu, united people of Kashmir against this proposal. Regional polarisation, thus, tended to undermine moderate hardliner polarisation in the Valley.
To the extent issue of killing people for their political views had been highlighted, it would have been a gain for the whole State. Indeed, how does the Dogra certificate serve the interest of people of Jammu? It may be relevant for employment in the Dogra regiment of the Indian army, which recruits from Kangra, Chamba and other Dogri speaking areas of Himachal Pradesh. There is no demand for a special certificate from them. Nor have Dogras of Jammu been handicapped without it so far. What is more significant is that less than 45% of Jammu residents are listed as Dogri speaking in the census. Will not a Dogra certificate divide the people of Jammu, and reduce this population to a minority in the region?
This is not the first time that special favours doled to Jammu have proved counter-productive.
The Finance Minister Pranab Mukerjee, in his Budget speech, allocated Rs. 8000 crores a Special Development Assistance for J&K State. Responding to what he called recurring complaints of bias towards the Valley by Jammu and Ladakh, he set aside Rs. 100 crores for Ladakh and Rs. 150 crores for Jammu regions, much lower than the two Task Forces, constituted for infrastructure development in these regions had recommended. The recommended allocation for Ladakh was Rs. 416 crores and Rs. 497 crores for Jammu.
The Finance Minister further said he was to begin with, “addressing certain concerns of the people of these regions. The Ladakhis and Jammu residents have long been complaining about the continued central funding schemes in Kashmir.” The Finance Minister also admitted that much of the money spent under Central schemes, like the PM’s Reconstruction Plan of Rs. 28,000 crores, had been pumped into the Kashmir valley.
If Finance Minister’s presumption about neglect of Jammu and Ladakh is correct, is an allocation of Rs. 250 crores enough to compensate for the past neglect of these regions, and how does it take care of their “legitimate” share in Rs. 8000 crores allocated for the State as a Special Development Assistance in the budget year?
While FM’s has confirmed the grievances of Jammu and Ladakh, and raised their doubts about adequacy of remedial measures, voices have been raised in Kashmir protesting against discrimination involved in these proposals. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce said that “while Jammu and Ladakh regions have been sanctioned funds, no such allocation has been made for the Kashmir region.”
The real grievance of Jammu and Ladakh is not lack of development but of alleged discrimination. How can even a rough estimate of it be made without a similar Task Force for Kashmir? An attempt to remove complaint of regional discrimination was made by the State government by appointing a Finance Commission to study this question. After four years of labour, it submitted its report which only aggravated regional tensions, for its members from Kashmir and other two regions, interpreted the official statistics in divergent way and submitted different reports.
The leaders of the coalition government announce every day that it is committed to equitable development of all regions. But in the absence of any objective criteria, this is decided on subjective and political considerations, which results in complaints of discrimination, not only between regions, but also districts and assembly constituencies.
In this context, the eight -point equitable and objective formula for allocation of funds to each region and district which I had submitted to the state government as head of the Regional Autonomy Committee in 1998 becomes relevant. It included area, population, road-connectivity in proportion to area, share in state services, share in higher and technical education, infant mortality, female education and contribution to state exchequer. It could be further debated. Whatever form it is finally adopted, it could be computed to determine respective allocation for regions and districts in an objective manner. The priorities should be left to the elected authorities at all levels.
Moreover, development is no substitute for satisfaction of political aspirations of the people. It has neither resolved Kashmir problem, nor would resolve regional tensions. Prime Ministrer, in his Jammu speech, rightly recognised that “there are genuine political, social and emotional grievances of the people of J&K.” As far Jammu and Ladakh are concerned, their urge for empowerment is far more important than token special grants for development. The formula of regional autonomy that was part of the Delhi Agreement of 1952 between Nehru and Abdullah, and reiterated by Abdullah in 1975 before resuming power is still relevant.
The most diverse state of the country, J&K, is all the more in need of a federal and decentralised set-up. At present, it is an extremely centralised and regimented state, where all power is concentrated in the hands of the Cabinet. Ad-hoc measures taken by the government to resolve regional tensions have thus far proved counter-productive. It was only after the work of the Task Force that a Congress minister from Jammu demanded separate Jammu state to end perpetual discrimination against the region. Another senior Congress leader demanded rotational Chief Minister. Alongside these developments, the Ladakh Hill Development Council (Leh) has discarded the State flag and emblem. In fact, the demand for separation of Ladakh from the State and making it a Union Territory is gaining momentum.
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