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| Jammu & Kashmir can't remain one piece, united | | Interlocutors' Day-Dreaming | | Neha
JAMMU, Sept 20: The Muslim League held its session in Lahore in March 1940. In his presidential address, Mohammad Ali Jinnah pointed the differences between Islam and Hinduism and asserted that the time had come to implement the two-nation theory, which had been evolved and practiced by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in the late 1890s. He said: "The Hindus and Muslims belong to two religious philosophies, social customs and literatures. They neither inter-dine together nor inter-marry and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their concepts of life and on life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Mussalmans derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes, and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is the foe of the other and, likewise, their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to a growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the governance of such state". Jinnah not only highlighted the differences between Islam and Hinduism, but also demanded a sovereign and independent Muslim Pakistan.
The establishment of Pakistan in August 1947 led the Indians believe that there would be no Jinnah left in the country after its communal partition. This was a misplaced belief. A peep into the history of Kashmir clearly suggests so. It is hardly necessary to reflect on what has been happening in the Kashmir since October 1947, as the people across the country are fully aware of every development that unfolded in the state between 1947 and till date. Hence, suffice it to say that there are many Jinnahs in Kashmir who believe in what Jinnah religiously believed in and ruthlessly implemented. In other words, suffice it to say that the Kashmiri leaders, without any exception, do not believe in what the Indian nation stands for. The Indian stands for equality among all, irrespective of caste, colour and creed. The people of Jammu are part and parcel of the Indian nation and they, like their fellow countrymen, believe in the Indian sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, besides having their full faith in secular and democratic ethos.
That was the reason the people of Jammu province and the trans-Himalayan Ladakh suffered happily for what is called the national interest in Kashmir. They accommodated the Kashmiri urges to an extent that threatened their own distinct identities and personalities and that culminated into their socio-cultural and politico-economic degeneration. Mercifully, the Kashmiri leadership never appreciated the supreme sacrifices the people of Jammu province and Ladakh region made for the national cause in Kashmir. The Kashmiri leadership exploited these two regions to the hilt and has made it loud and clear that it, like Jinnah, has no faith in the Indian political system and that it wants a dispensation outside the political and constitutional organization of India. This is utterly unacceptable to the people of Jammu and Ladakh and there should be no doubt it.
It is indeed ironical that the Government of India-appointed interlocutors have miserably failed to understand the nature of Kashmiri leadership and suggested that "we will like the state to remain one piece - united, but at the same time we will like the interests, concerns, grievances and aspirations of the people of all the regions…to be properly addressed". They are seeking to achieve the unachievable. The contradictions in the political perceptions of the Kashmiri leadership and the people of Jammu and Ladakh are so sharp and palpable that the same just cannot be reconciled.
The interlocutors, who visited every nook and corner of the state to assess the mood of the people, have, it seems, gone totally confused. They say that they are devising a reform scheme that would help resolve the Kashmir issue, mitigate the grievances of the people, accommodate the aspirations of all the three regions and give a sense of belonging to each and every person in the state. They are day-dreaming; they are living in a fool's paradise. They just cannot workout a scheme that would be acceptable to the Kashmiri leadership and the people of Jammu and Ladakh.
The interlocutors must take cognizance of the ground realities in the state and, like former President of India and Congress veteran late R Venkataraman, recommend trifurcation of the state, as trifurcation of the state is the only option left for forging a lasting peace in the state. The late President had told Prime Minister Indira Gandhi: "Give Jammu the status of statehood, give what the Ladakhis want (Union Territory status) and deal with Kashmir separately". |
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