news details |
|
|
| '50:50 formula imperative for unity of J&K' | | | Early Times Report
jammu, Mar 23: Now that the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti over the Government formation in J&K has finally taken place and there is the possibility of her taking over the highest executive office on or after March 29, it is time to reflect on the complexities of the situation in the State and find a way that satisfies both people of Jammu province and Kashmir region.
The history of relations between Jammu province and Kashmir region is one of mistrust and bitterness. The people of Jammu province always believed, and rightly, that they never got their due share in the governance of the State and that they were treated as subjects and not citizens of the State by those who remained at the helm. It had been their complaint that not only the Kashmiri leadership but also its Jammu-based agents always cared for Kashmir and Kashmiri Muslims and worked for the promotion of their interests, legitimate or otherwise. Their fundamental complaint was that the Kashmiri leadership and New Delhi always conspired against them, struck various deals over their heads and not only followed discriminatory policies against them but also sought to impose their will on them, notwithstanding their insistence on a dispensation that not only treats the people of all the regions equally at all levels and in all the spheres but also brings them closer to New Delhi then ever before.
On the other hand, the complaint of the Kashmiri leadership and Kashmiri Muslims all along was that the "communal" people of Jammu province never allowed them to achieve their political objective and they consistently opposed their demand for a special dispensation. They had repeatedly accused the Jammu leadership of hobnobbing with New Delhi and bringing down the democratically-elected Governments in the State. To make their point, they repeatedly referred to the fall of the Sheikh Abdullah's Governments in 1953 and 1977 and collapse of the Farooq Abdullah Government and GM Shah's Government. The main grouse of the Kashmiri leadership against the people of Jammu province was that they at the behest of New Delhi acted as a millstone around the Kashmiri neck and the result was alienation of Kashmiri Muslims from New Delhi.
The story of relations between the two regions was no different when the PDP and the PDP ruled the State for ten months between March I, 2015 and January 7, 2016. While the people of Jammu region charged the BJP with "ditching" them and rendering them ineffective in the State Cabinet and Council of Ministers, the people of Kashmir accused the PDP of facilitating the rise of "communal" and anti-Kashmir Sangh Parivar in the Valley". Even the relations between the two coalition partners were far from normal. The PDP and the BJP differed on many issues, including on the issues of State flag, cow-killing and beef-eating, imposition of service tax (Jaziya) on chopper services meant for Hindu holy shrines, Masarat Alam, Afzal Guru and so on. Mufti Sayeed, who led the coalition Government and who had on occasions more than one described the PDP (Kashmir) and BJP (Jammu) as North Pole and South pole, had to work overtime to keep the coalition intact. The nature of relationship between the two regions during the Mufti's second tenure as Chief Minister could be seen from the fact that Jammu province remained disturbed for more than two months after April and the issue that had brought the people of Jammu province face to face with the Kashmiri leadership and the Kashmiri people was the shifting of the sanctioned AIIMS from Jammu to Kashmir and the statement of the Chief Minister that the ongoing Artificial Tawi Lake Project could be shelved. What the people of Jammu did to the BJP during this period of turmoil is too well-known.
All this should put things in perspective and establish that it is not easy to manage Jammu province and Kashmir region. What should the PDP-BJP coalition Government, if at all formed, do to end inter-regional bitterness or harmonize inter-regional relations? It should work out 50:50 power-sharing formula considering the fact that both the parties have equal strength in the Assembly. If the PDP has 27 MLAs and also enjoys the support of one independent MLA from Zanskar, the BJP also has 25 MLAs and it enjoys the support of two People's Conference MLAs and one independent MLA from Udhampur.
The 50:50 formula means equal representation to Jammu province and Kashmir region in the State Cabinet and Council of Ministers and fair distribution of important portfolios between the two regions. In 2015, it was not done. Kashmir had got 12 berths in the State Cabinet and Jammu only five. Similarly, the composition of the Council of Ministers was lop-sided. Besides, the distribution of portfolios was also irrational. It was the Valley which walked away with all the important portfolios leaving the people of Jammu province high and dry. It is also imperative that the ignored Jammu province gets more funds for developmental activities as it is two times that of Kashmir in terms of land area, bulk of which is also highly difficult, treacherous and inaccessible. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
