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| Conflict between Jammu and Valley could divide J&K | | 'Diversity of the State' | | Rustam
Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 14: The 2014 poll verdict has established once and for all that the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is highly diverse and that only a government that recognizes this reality alone could maintain its unity and integrity, otherwise it would disintegrate sooner than later. What is highly significant is the fact that even those in the Valley who till the other day used to describe the State of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh as one political entity and wanted the Kashmiri will to be imposed on the state's other two regions have acknowledged that the state is highly diverse.
They want the J&K watchers to analyze the recent election results in J&K state "in the backdrop of the diversity of the state". They say in case this diversity is ignored, the conclusions would remain "superficial". "The J&K state comprises three distinct geographical, cultural and linguistic regions. These three regions have further sub-regions - linguistically and ethno-culturally. It has rightly been observed that J&K state represents the sub-Continental diversities. It needs to be recognized that these regions and sub-regions have their respective urges and aspirations. It would be an oversimplification to club these diverse regions as uniform entities on the basis of over projection of one or the other dimension of the identity of the regions. A close analysis of the voting pattern reveals the assertion and recognition of the diversities in the state. Since the election arithmetic is based on the numbers, even one vote here or there would tilt the balance in favor of a candidate/ party," they, among other things, now say while conceding that J&K is a very complex and difficult state.
Indeed, the 2014 poll verdict has rattled and unnerved almost all in the Valley and upset their applecart. The poll verdict has undoubtedly raised the political status of Jammu and Ladakh and created a situation that has made the task of the government formation very, very difficult.
In the just-concluded assembly election, the BJP got 25 out of 37 seats in Jammu province and the Congress, the PDP, the NC and independents won five, three, three and one seat, respectively. In other words, the people of Jammu province gave a massive mandate to the BJP, which has been described by many J&K-watchers as a "mandate for statehood". In Ladakh, the Congress won three out of four seats. In other words, the Congress won 75 per cent of the total seats in the region and it has been described by the J&K watchers as "a
vote for Union Territory status" for the trans-Himalayan region. Interestingly, the remaining fourth seat went to an independent candidate and not to the NC or the Congress and the BJP. As for Kashmir, the voters here gave a highly fractured verdict. The PDP won 25 seats, the NC 12, the Congress 4, the People's Conference (PC) 2 and three independents made it to the assembly which has been kept under suspended animation following the imposition of the Governor's rule in the state on January 8. Significantly, the Kashmir-watchers have described the mandate in Kashmir as mandate for "self-rule" or limited accession of Kashmir with India.
It is this that has created political instability in the state to the extent that not a single party is able to form a government that represents all the three regions in the real sense of the term. The PDP and the NC, which share between them 43 seats, can for the government by seeking the support of just one independent MLA, which is not difficult, but it would not be stable government, as it would mean exclusion of Jammu province from the government. Exclusion of Jammu would mean massive political explosions in this part of the state, as the PDP-NC government would be practically a government of the followers on one particular religious sect. Similarly, the PDP and the Congress, plus four independent MLAs could also form a coalition government but it would also be a one-community and one region-centric government.
The point is that the policy-planners in New Delhi will have to sit up and work out a scheme that satisfies the urges of the people of all the three regions. It has become imperative in view of the nature of the 2014 mandate. Not to appreciate this reality or to continue to cling to the old line would be only to create more unrest not only in the excluded Jammu and Ladakh but also in Kashmir as it has to face the wrath of the neglected regions. |
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