Early Times Report
JAMMU, June 25: Senseless opposition in the J&K Assembly to everything Indian as well as grant of mining lease to a Chandigarh-based person in Jammu and bitter opposition in the Valley to the idea of setting up of colonies for Kashmiri Hindus and state subject ex-soldiers have triggered a debate in social networking sites, especially Twitter. The objective critics of opponents in Kashmir of everything Indian have been talking about the principle of reciprocity. They are arguing "if the Kashmiri Muslims do not want the Indians to enjoy all rights in J&K, why should they be allowed to enjoy any right in rest of the country?" The argument appears quite valid. The people of rest of the country are as Indians as the people of J&K State are. And since all are Indian nationals, they deserve equal treatment all over the country, without any exception. It's true that while the Kashmiri leadership and its agents in Jammu, including those belonging to the so-called nationalist and integrationist BJP, have been one against the idea of non-state subjects exercising any right in the state, the people of Kashmir, who hate everything Indian, barring the Indian taxpayers' money, exercise all rights all over the country. They are on the staff of the Government of India; they are doing big business all over the country, including Delhi, Amritsar, Mumbai, Goa, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Chennai, Lucknow, to mention only a few places; they are in the film industry; and so on. On the contrary, there is hardly any non-state-subject anywhere in Kashmir Valley, except the poor labourers, carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers and so on. The Kashmiri leadership needs to change its attitude towards the Indians so that the non-state subjects all over the country do not insist on the principle of reciprocity. In case they continued to block the entry of non-state subjects in Kashmir Valley, there is the possibility of the Kashmiri Muslims facing very hostile atmosphere outside the Kashmir Valley. |
