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| An honest view of Delhi-based commentator on PM Modi's package | | Plight of Jammu, Ladakh | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 10: The Prime Minister Narendra Modi's November 7 package, which was announced at Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium, Srinagar, has not only evoked a negative response from Jammu, but also from some leading Delhi-based commentators and J&K-watchers. One of the well-known commentators Sandhya Jain has described as disappointing the PM's package as far as Jammu and Ladakh are concerned.
Jain on Monday said: "Discontent has been simmering in Jammu and Ladakh regions after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Srinagar on November 7, where he bestowed a gigantic Rs 80,000 crore development package, as the feeling spread that he had mainly addressed the valley rather than the diverse regions of the State. The reference to 'Naya Kashmir' jarred as it reminded people of the sectarian domination launched by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in the erstwhile princely State; they particularly objected to the Prime Minister omitting 'Jai Hind' at the end of his speech".
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee made the same mistake while addressing a rally in Srinagar when, too, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was Chief Minister; he later apologised. The first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had addressed the people at Lal Chowk in 1947 and concluded his speech with 'Jai Hind'. Subsequently, every Prime Minister who visited Kashmir concluded his/her speech with Jai Hind, Jain claimed. "Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed in his speech paid obeisance to Bharat and spoke of the need to ensure the return of Pandits as an integral part of the State without being sequestered in a separate colony; the need to do something for refugees from Occupied Kashmir (around 15 lakh); and the need to empower panchayats and municipal bodies," jain further said, adding that mentioning the havoc wrought by last year's floods, the Mufti appreciated Central help in expediting the new Jammu-to-Srinagar highway, and the grant of AIIMS-like institutions to both Jammu and Kashmir provinces.
Jain didn't stop just there. Jain further said: "The sweet talk could not bridge the trust deficit between the disparate regions of the State. While the Prime Minister promised development for all - the Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh - the promise of Union Territory status to Ladakh, which gave the Bharatiya Janata Party a handsome victory in the recent Ladakh hill council (Leh) elections, seems remote. The PDP was routed. The Prime Minister's joke about 'competition for development' between Jammu province and the Valley underlined the inter-regional bitterness. The Union budget of February 2015 had provided for an AIIMS and IIM to J&K, which the Finance Ministry clarified to mean an AIIMS for Jammu and IIM for Kashmir. But after being sworn in as Chief Minister on March 1, Mufti Sayeed released the Agenda for Alliance which said the Valley would get the AIIMS, and Jammu an IIT and IIM. This caused rage in Jammu province, which protested with a massive shutdown on April 24 and a complete bandh on May 27, when Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited the State to highlight the Government's one year achievements. As a result, the "historic rally" he was to address was reduced to an indoor meeting with party workers at KK Resorts on the outskirts of the city. The Centre caved in and promised an AIIMS-type institution to both".
Commenting on the Tawi Artificial Lake project, Jain regretted saying that the fate of the Rs 100 crore artificial lake project over Tawi river in Jammu, which Mufti declared technically and economically unviable on May 15, remains uncertain though nearly Rs 50 crore has been spent and that the project was intended as a tourist attraction for Jammu; the suspicion is that it was abandoned due to Pakistan's objections that it might affect the flow of Indus water.
Jain also commented on 12.5 per cent Jazya tax on Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage and other Hindu shrines and tore into the BJP for its negative attitude towads those who defended anti-beef laws. "The resentment over imposition of 12.5 per cent tax on chopper service to Mata Vaishno Devi and other Hindu shrines, seen as a ploy to reduce the number of pilgrims, was succeeded by an attempt to scuttle Section 298 A, B, C and D of the Ranbir Penal Code, which banned the killing of cow and eating of beef in J&K, Jain said, adding that when controversies over sale of beef erupted in some States which prohibited cow slaughter, some political parties and traders in the Valley decided to defy the century-old ban. "A private members' bill was submitted to the Assembly, seeking to de-criminalise bovine slaughter and sale and eating of beef. When Additional Advocate General Vishal Sharma and Deputy Advocate General Parimoksh Seth sought to enforce the law, they were sacked by the PDP-controlled Law Ministry," Jain lamented.
Referring to the demand in Jammu for proper representation in the Assembly, Jain said: "As Jammu contributes over 70% of the State revenue and has the majority of the population, the demand for fresh delimitation of Assembly constituencies to do justice to Jammu is gathering momentum. In February 2002, the National Conference Government had passed an amendment that a delimitation commission would be set up only after 2031; this perpetuates the domination of Kashmir over the State". Jain also stated: "The people of Jammu are restless over denial of due representation in the State Assembly, Cabinet, Secretariat, the service sector and technical and professional institutions. The office of Chief Minister is the de facto preserve of Kashmir region, whose leaders are insensitive even to petty demands such as revival of Dogra certificate to subjects of the erstwhile kingdom".
Regarding Ladakh, Jain said: "As New Delhi hastens to complete the Rs 34,000 crore highway that will reduce the route between Jammu and Srinagar by nearly 70 kms and shorten travel from 10 to 4 hours, there is need to address the distance created by the mindset of aloofness from the rest of India. A beginning can be made by asking the State to assist in granting Union Territory status to backward Ladakh".
What does all this show? It shows there are objective commentators and keen J&K-watchers who are fully aware of the plight of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. That they are Delhi-based and not from Jammu and that they have started highlighting the J&K issues in right perspective augurs well for the neglected people of Jammu and Ladakh. |
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