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| Trifurcation of J&K a natural solution, says Syed Shahabuddin | | Resolving Kashmir | | Rustam
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 18: The fractured verdict in the recently-held assembly elections and the imposition of the Governor's rule in J&K has, as already reported in these columns, have triggered a serious debate on the future status of the state.
Many in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have reiterated that trifurcation of the state is the only solution not only to the so-called Kashmir issue but also to meet the aspirations of Jammu and Ladakh and end inter-regional tensions.
Interestingly, many Kashmir-watchers based in Delhi and elsewhere have also joined the debate and suggested trifurcation of the state as the only way out to break the political deadlock in the state and meet the needs, aspirations and compulsions of the different people inhabiting the three distinct regions - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The latest to join the debate is Syed Shahabuddin, a leading but controversial Muslim scholar and commentator. "Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh think differently as they have never felt being organic parts of the state. They move in different directions and give this feel that they cannot be brought under a common government which is democratically representatives of the all people of the three regions," he has said, and added that he endorsed the view that "there is an element of anti-Kashmir sentiment for the voting pattern of Jammu" and that he "always felt in (his) discussions with the Kashmiris that they have not forgotten the memories of the Dogra rule". "When I first went to Kashmir in 1991 after entering politics, I found that the Kashmiri elite was not prepared to share power with the people of Jammu. They asked me why should they, after all they are a majority, and now the time has come for them to pay Jammu back in its coins," Syed Shahabuddin also made a startling revelation while endorsing the trifurcation solution.
So much so, Syed Shahabuddin has described the trifurcation solution as the natural political solution. "My point is that as I felt since then the only political solution of the Kashmir question is its trifurcation into Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, with Kashmir enjoying fullest possible autonomy in India (not comparable to the state autonomy we speak of), Jammu integrated with the Union as a separate state or may be as part of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh converted into a Union Territory," he, in effect, has said. He has further said: "I also know that our national leadership has been wary of this natural solution because they do not treat the Kashmiris feel that it will accelerate Kashmir going to Pakistan. I never thought so because for many centuries Kashmiris have suffered under Mughal or Pathan rule and I have learnt from many of them that they would not like their kins to be "sold" in Lahore and Karachi. The point I want to make is that inter-regional religious polarization has become visible after the results of the last election and perhaps in future only one party will emerge as the sole representative of Kashmir".
That Syed Shahabuddin has put forth such views is an important development considering the fact that it runs counter to the view of all the Kashmiri separatists, the so-called mainstream Kashmiri leaders and Pakistan that the entire state of J&K is a disputed territory and that its unity has to be maintained at any cost. There is no doubt that his support to the trifurcation suggestion will be welcomed by many in Jammu and Ladakh, who have suffered discrimination at the hands of Kashmiri rulers during all these 67 years of the state's accession to India, notwithstanding his suggestion that Kashmir be granted autonomy within the Indian Union. Actually, what Syed Shahabuddin has said only vindicated those in Jammu and Ladakh who are of the considered view that J&K is an unnatural formation and that its three-way split is imperative to end unrest in the state. |
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