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| BJP's demand of minority status for Hindus a sad reflection on government | | Nature Of State | | Rustam
JAMMU, Mar 2: BJP MLA Ashok Khajuria yesterday demanded minority status for Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir. He put forth this demand in the assembly while raising the issue of distribution of scholarships among students belonging to different social groups. The demand must constitute a sad reflection on those governing the state. It should also be construed as a manifestation of dissatisfaction and discontent which have gripped the various sections of society.
Whether one supports or not the demand as put forth by the BJP MLA, as also by sections of displaced Kashmiri Hindus, but one would surely recognise the fact that the minorities in the state, which constitute no less 40 per cent of the state's population, are not safe in the state. It's just not that that the authorities in the state have been according to them a shabby treatment since 1947. It's just not that that these minorities in the state have been excluded by the leadership of the majority community that inhabits the Kashmir Valley. It's also just not that that these minorities have been rendered ineffective and unreal to a considerable extent. What is horrifying and alarming is the sense of insecurity among these minorities. And, there are potent reasons which are responsible for the sense of insecurity among them.
There are many who believe that these minorities have been subjected to a policy of repression and persecution and that the concerted moves are afoot to create in Jammu province a Kashmir-like situation that had left the miniscule minority of Kashmiri Hindus to quit their original habitat in 1990 and migrate to other places to protect their honour and dignity and save their culture and religion. The Kashmiri Hindus had to quit Kashmir because they had been confronted with a choice between persecution and supporting the separatist and communal movement that had engulfed the Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s. They quit because the administration failed to protect them or failed to discharge their duties. The administration didn't act against those who had unleashed a reign of senseless brutalities against the minority Hindus in Kashmir with a view to ensuring their exodus.
The displaced Kashmiri Hindus have been living in Jammu and other places in the country ever since then. It is extremely unlikely that they would ever return to their homeland. They had undergone trauma; they had suffered humiliations and torture; they had witnessed the dance of death and destruction in Kashmir; they are the victims of genocide; and they know the nature of the system New Delhi handed down in 1947.
Besides Kashmiri Hindus, many Sikh families had also migrated to Jammu and the process continues unabated. If reports emanating from Kashmir Valley are any indication, then it can be said that the Sikhs who stayed put in Kashmir may also quit their homes and hearts. The situation in the Valley is such. The number of Christians in Kashmir is also dwindling. According to sources close to the suffering Christians, the number of Christians in Kashmir has dwindled from 400 in 210-2011 to just 200 in 2012. There was a time when the Christian community had its own colony in Kashmir. The Dogras of Jammu are also not found in Kashmir, despite the fact that they were so numerous only some six decades ago. Similar is the story of the Ladakhi Buddhists, who are conspicuous by their absence in the Kashmir Valley.
What Ashok Khajuria said on the floor of the assembly needs to be viewed in this context. It is ironical that the BJP has to demand minority status for Hindus of Jammu and Kashmir in the Hindu-majority India. One can very well understand the reasons which compelled him to put forth such a demand. Will the ruling coalition, especially the Congress take cognisance of what Khajuria said and undertake measures calculated to end the sense of insecurity among these minority communities. It is a must. It should also realise that the Hindus in Jammu province are not a microscopic minority, as the Hindus were in Kashmir. The Hindus constitute over 70 per cent population in this province and they are as they are. There is no need to reflect on what they can do. A reference to what they did in 2008 is enough and what they did all the Kashmiri leaders and Jammu Congressmen know. |
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