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| Divide the state to forge a lasting peace in Jammu & Kashmir | | Restricting Area Of Strife | | Rustam
JAMMU, Dec 14: Secessionist violence engulfed parts of Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s. The first casualty was the miniscule minority of Kashmiri Hindus, who quit Kashmir to escape the extremists' wrath. It happened in early 1990. Thereafter, the extremists and separatists tried to bloody and convulse the social and political scene of Jammu province. They were quite successful. They vitiated the atmosphere in the whole of the erstwhile Doda district, Poonch-Rajouri belt, Jammu city and areas around Jammu and parts of Udhampur, Reasi and Kathua districts. The people of Jammu witnessed the merchants of death and destruction playing havoc with them between 1990 and 1994 and to an extent after 1994. They did suffer at the hands of the Pakistan-sponsored terrorists and their supporters in Kashmir, but did not allow them to establish their foothold anywhere in Jammu province, including in the Muslim-majority pockets. Leave aside a few perverted elements here and there.
It can be said that the extremists in Kashmir and their mentors in Pakistan did accept their defeat in Jammu province. It was only after the 1994 Pakistani debacle in Geneva that they changed their strategy as far as the implementation of their sinister agenda in Jammu province was concerned. Pakistan had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the European Union and others representing India over the human rights issue at Geneva. They thought of changing the demographic profile of this province in order to create a Kashmir-like situation and they did work in the direction. However, their strategy failed to click. The bulk of Muslim population of Jammu province not only held itself aloof from the votaries of independence and Pakistan but also acted in a fashion that defeated the concerted moves on the part of Kashmiri separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and Shabir Ahmed Shah to establish their foot hold anywhere in this province. The fact of the matter is that the people of Jammu province -- Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs --- stood against the extremists and proved their intensely pro-India credentials. The story of Ladakh has been no different. The Kashmiri extremists have failed to establish their foothold anywhere in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh.
The most significant aspect of the situation that Jammu province witnessed was the decline of the NC in Jammu province. There was a time when the NC would rule the roost, particularly in the Muslim-majority areas. For example, in 1996, the NC had captured almost a dozen assembly seats in the Jammu province. In 2008, the number fell to just five. In fact, the outcome of the 2002 and 2008 assembly elections clearly suggested that there were no taker for what the NC wanted to sell in Jammu province. In other words, an overwhelming majority of people of Jammu province rejected outright the autonomy doctrine of the NC. The autonomy doctrine means a step short of independence from India. The PDP also tried its level best to create a constituency in Jammu province, but miserably failed. It could capture 2008 a paltry two seats in the Poonch-Rajouri belt by a slender margin, as also because of the faulty election system, first-past-the post system.
What does all this suggest? It clearly suggests that the secessionist movement is basically confined to the Kashmir Valley. The policy-planners and the Delhi-based think-tanks must look all these facts in the face and devise and implement a policy that restricts the area of strife in the state to the Kashmir Valley and empowers Jammu and Ladakh to manage their own affairs themselves under the Indian constitutional framework. This is the only way New Delhi could forge a lasting peace in the state. The division of the state would benefit India and Jammu and Ladakh and promote in Kashmir politics based on democratic and economic issues. Don't waste time. Divide the state to forge a lasting peace in this strategic region. |
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