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| Halt disturbing trend in Jammu | | | | An innovative way for changing the demography of the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir has been found by some builders. People in the muslim dominated Kashmir valley raise their voice whenever reports do surface on building separate clusters for those Kashmir Panidts who were ready to return to the valley. Besides people in Kashmir, leaders of mainstream political parties, that are known to be valley centric, and the separatists not only shout loud but shed tears whenever reports surface indicating that several thousand West Pakistan refugees,settled in Jammu, are to be granted permanent citizenship rights. They are up in arms against any such plan on the plea that it may change the demographic character of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. How can full settlement of a few thousand families of West Pakistan refugees alter the demographic character of the state which has predominantly a muslim majority. They berate any plan on settling the Kashmiri pandit displaced families in separate clusters in the valley on the ground that it would threat the very cultural ethos of the valley and endanger communal amity and harmony. On the basis of such protests, it is politically feasible for some builders to develop new colonies only on communal grounds. Certainly not. Over the years the state of Jammu and Kashmir has become a symbol of communal harmony and amity. Even before their migration Pandits and muslims used to live in complete harmony in the valley. This was possible when the two major communities lived as neighbours in various vicinities and localities. But a change, a dangerous change,is taking place in the winter capital of the state with the Government and its agencies remaining unmindful of these scary developments. Several enclaves,meant for a particular community, have started coming up in the city and its periphery with builders making allotments purely on “religious lines”. While developers of these enclaves have been issuing advertisements on a regular basis, the state government seems to be unmoved by the “emerging threat” to communal harmony in the relatively peaceful region. Sources in the administration say around 10 enclaves based on “religious and communal lines” have already come up or are being set up in the vicinity of the winter capital. Developers are even promising people from a particular community to get their plots registered within 15 days, indicating at a “nexus” with government and revenue officials. There are areas on the outskirts of the city, including Sunjwan and Bantalab, where new colonies were being developed for a particular community. In fact since 1990, when the state experienced the rise of Pakistan sponsored militancy, agencies have been pooling money to a particular community for purchasing plots or houses in posh Gandhi Nagar, Trikuta Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Bakshi Nagar etc.Reports indicate that some agencies across the LOC were active in financing particular community for buying houses in Jammu. The result was that during the last 25 years scores of houses owned by Hindus, including some Pandits,have been purchased by muslims. Now that the Government has ordered an enquiry steps need to be taken to curb such a malicious practice.Is it part of the plan to alter the demographic character of the winter capital, which, hitherto, has been a Hindu majority area ? Yes, there were scores of families of muslims in Kashmir who had received threats from militants and they had no other alternative but to purchase houses or build houses in the winter capital. Among the migrants from the hilly areas of Jammu region there are a number of muslim families which too have purchased houses in Jammu. Time has come for the Government to act fast and prevent the developers and builders from selling flats and houses on communal and religious lines.It is a dangerous trend that needs to be halted before the secular fabric of the state was punctured. |
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