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| Revisiting agenda of alliance to call BJP's bluff | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 26: BJP leaders from Ram Madhav to who not are claiming day in and day out that the agenda of alliance on the basis of which the BJP became part of J&K Government for the first time in the State is an "agenda of governance" and "not a political agenda". They are also claiming that the "agenda of alliance was approved by the highest echelons in the party, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, after they got convinced that it will promote the national interest in the State and also satisfy the people of all the three regions - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh". The BJP leaders made this claim on Friday and even today to reassure the nationalists across the country in general and J&K in particular that "the BJP didn't sacrifice either the national interest or the interests of any of three regions of the State and that the focus of the party-in-Government would be only on the issues of governance and nothing else".
However, political commentators and people of the State, especially people of Jammu province and minorities like the Kashmiri Hindus, do not share the view of the BJP and say that the BJP has endangered national unity and sealed the fate of the nationalists in the State as well as Jammu and Ladakh. Some very serious researchers and keen J&K-watchers, who have read and re-read the agenda of alliance and understood its dangerous ramifications, have expressed the view that it is a "very dangerous document". Some of them have dismissed it as "an agenda of subversion and capitulation". Some of them have termed it as "a new charter of bondage for Jammu and another rivet in the chain of Jammu slavery". Besides, many others have termed the agenda of alliance as "a document designed to break Jammu region into smithereens".
Do these J&K-watchers make any valid point? Yes, they do. Indeed, there is much in the agenda which is absolutely undesirable. It does help Pakistan and Hurriyat to promote their secessionist and sectarian agenda. Besides, it also helps anti-Jammu forces in Kashmir further consolidate their hegemony over Jammu region and destroys its unity and integrity by pitting followers of one religion against the followers of another. Not just this, the agenda of alliance also negates all that the nation did till February 2015 in J&K to integrate it completely into India.
For instance, the agenda of alliance not only maintains the existing politico-constitutional status of J&K, but also virtually says that J&K is a disputed territory and that its political future has yet to be decided. To be more precise, it recommends a process that seeks to involve Hurriyat leaders in the dialogue process and also considers Pakistan a stakeholder in J&K. "While recognizing the different positions and appreciating the perceptions BJP and PDP have on the constitutional status of J&K considering the political and legislative realities, the present position will be maintained on all the constitutional provisions pertaining to J&K, including the special status (under Article 370) in the Constitution of India," the agenda of alliance says. "The earlier NDA Government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee had initiated a dialogue process with all political groups, including the Hurriyat Conference, in the spirit of 'Insaaniyat, Kashmiriyat aur Jamhooriyat'. Following the same principles, the coalition Government will facilitate and help initiate a sustained and meaningful dialogue with all internal stakeholders, which will include all political groups irrespective of their ideological views and predilections. This dialogue will seek to build a broad based consensus on resolution of all outstanding issues of J&K," it also says. Besides, the agenda of alliance also talks about demilitarization of the State and withdrawal of all "special laws", including Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). Not just this, it also says that "all lands other than those given to the security forces on the basis of lease, licenses and acquisition under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act shall be returned to the rightful legal owners". Not just this, the agenda of alliance also provides for the return of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC)-managed Dulhasti (Jammu) Uri (Kashmir) power projects to the J&K Government. The Union Government will "explore modalities for transfer of Dulhasti and Uri hydro power projects to J&K," it says.
All this should be more than enough to vindicate all those who term the agenda of alliance as "an agenda of subversion". It would be no exaggeration if someone says that the agenda of alliance gives plenipotentiary powers (power to negotiate the State's political future with foreign countries) to the J&K Government. This is what the agenda of alliance precisely suggests.
Similarly, the critics of the agenda of alliance also stand vindicated when they describe it as "a new charter of bondage for Jammu and another rivet in the chain of Jammu slavery". The reason is that there is absolutely nothing in the agenda for the discriminated people of Jammu region. It does talk of appointment of delimitation commission, but it says that it could happen only after the 2031 census and that, too, if the Government of the time would be willing to withdraw the February 2002 amendment that had banned delimitation of Assembly constituencies to scuttle the age-old demand in Jammu region for proper representation in the Assembly. The Assembly discusses and decides questions of supreme importance to the well-being and happiness of the people. The plight and political status of the people of Jammu region would not change unless they get equal, if not more, representation in the Assembly. The land area of Jammu region is two-time that of Kashmir Valley and the number of voters in Jammu region and Kashmir valley is almost equal. And, yet Kashmir returns 46 members to the Assembly and Jammu only 37. The agenda of alliance says that delimitation commission would be constituted for delimiting Legislative Assembly constituencies "as required by law" and the law is no such commission could be constituted before the 2031 census.
Likewise, the objective critics of the agenda of alliance with secular outlook also make a very valid point when they describe it as a document "designed to break Jammu region". That they are absolutely right could be seen from the fact that it earmarks 2 per cent of revenues from hydro power for the development of the Chenab region and also talks about Pir Panjal region. There exists no such region as Chenab region or Pir Panjal region, but the agenda describes Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts as Chenab Valley region and Poonch and Rajouri districts as Pir Panjal region. It is important to note that all these districts are located in the Pir Panjal mountain range and that if at all there exists any Valley in the so-called Chenab region, it is located between the Salal Hydro power project and Reasi town in Reasi district of Jammu province.
But these are only a few of several such examples which serve to prove the critics of the agenda of alliance right and its votaries absolutely wrong. It is hoped that the BJP would revisit the agenda of alliance and take corrective measures to allay the fears of the people of Jammu region and all the friends and well-wishers of India. |
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