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| "Sneaky Suggestion" Idea of regional councils and Kashmiris' attitude | | | NEHA
JAMMU, Jun 2: Vested interests in Kashmir have unleashed a no-holds-barred propaganda blitz against the Union Government-appointed interlocutors. They have launched a relentless campaign against the interlocutors not just because they hold the view that their report does not recommend autonomy or self-rule for the state or their report has not suggested a solution to the "Kashmir problem" that is consistent with the will and aspirations of the Muslims of Kashmir, but also because the interlocutors have suggested a change in the existing political and administrative set-up with a view to enabling the people of different regions to manage some of their own affairs themselves through the institution of regional council.
It needs to be noted that the interlocutors have suggested the creation of three regional councils in the state, one each for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, invested with "certain" legislative, financial and administrative powers subject to the condition that the unity and integrity of the state has to be maintained at any cost and that the people of Jammu and Ladakh have to co-exist with the people of Kashmir under the dispensation they have suggested in their report. The interlocutors have virtually suggested an autonomous status for the state within the Union and made an unambiguous suggestion that neither the Indian Parliament nor the President of India will have the power to bring the state under the ambit of central laws and central institutions. That the interlocutors have suggested an autonomous status for the state could be seen from their two unambiguous suggestions: Article 370 should be made a permanent feature of the constitution and it should be restored to its original position and nothing should be done to dilute the "dual status" of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is a different issue that the vested interests in Kashmir have refused to appreciate these recommendations. The reasons are obvious.
As said, the vested interests in Kashmir, and they are innumerable, have unleashed a no-holds-barred propaganda blitz against the interlocutors for their suggestion regarding the establishment of regional councils in the state. It is not only the so-called mainstream Kashmiri leaders who have opposed the idea of regional councils. Even the Kashmiri opinion-makers have opposed the idea. One of them has described the recommendation as a "sneaky suggestion" and shamelessly asserted that "the report is drawing much flak from within the State (read Kashmir) over its sneaky suggestion of creating three regional councils-one each for Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and devolution of legislative, financial and administrative powers to them".
It would be desirable to quote here what this Kashmiri critic has written about the regional council recommendation. Such an exercise would help put things in perspective and determine the nature of their bias against Jammu and Ladakh. "The recommendation appears as a camouflaged agenda of Indian government to sow seeds of division in the State based on communal lines. It talks about Regional Council as well as Sub Regional Council to address the aspirations of people of Jammu and Ladakh. In fact it (read interlocutors) overstepped its (their) mandate and suggested UT status to Ladakh and separate legislative powers for each region would mean separate political identity of all the three regions, something which goes against the essence of the State as also that of the Union of India. It was the Indian Union which had stood for a secular State at the time of 1947 partition, and to suggest communal division of J&K would be like a complete reversal of those tall ideals. It is the mandate of the people of the State themselves to decide what kind of internal empowerment at the regional and sub-regional levels they require rather than an external agency superimposing their views of trifurcation on the people of the State".
It is hardly necessary to reflect on the meaning and implications of what this critic has written as each and every word that he used to express his views is self-explanatory. Suffice it to say that he is feeling alarmed and highly disturbed because the interlocutors' recommendation, if accepted and implemented, would, according to him, not only help the people of these two regions to consolidate their political identity but also lead to the disintegration of the state. Remember, the vested interests in Kashmir see in the formation of regional councils in Jammu and Ladakh the rise of a situation under which the Kashmiri leadership would not be in a position to dominate and exploit the people of these two regions in the manner it has been exploiting them since October 1947. Their whole approach is patently communal and they want to rule over these two regions and the people they house unhindered. The fact of the matter is that such critics have only exposed themselves by opposing the idea of regional councils.
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