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| Shabnam is biased, not speaking the truth | | |
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Sep 10: The other day, Delhi-based Supreme Court lawyer-cum-activist Shabnam Lone of Kashmir origin turned highly emotional or whatever one may call it while taking part in the National channel Debate on Kashmir situation. She claimed that an “extreme form of discontent has gripped” Kashmiris and New Delhi had to address the issue to forge peace in the restive Valley. Her brothers Bilal Lone is in the Hurriyat Conference and Sajad Lone is minister in the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government out of BJP’s quota and she stays put in Delhi to earn money and plead the separatists’ cause.
Shabnam didn’t use word disaffection. She used the word “discontent”. She is very articulate. She knows which terms to invoke and when and where to invoke to make her point. Discontent is a word which we normally use for the areas where the people have little or no say in matters of governance, but she used it in the context of Kashmir.
Let’s depict very briefly the political status of Kashmir vis-à-vis other two regions of Jammu and Kashmir State and other States of the Union. It’s imperative to put things in perspective and clear all cobwebs of confusion.
Kashmir is the most powerful and most developed region in the country, nay in the world. The office of Chief Minister became its sole preserve in 1947 itself, when the state acceded to India. Not just this, Kashmir has been holding all the vital portfolios since then and controlling financial institutions, revenue department, political and administrative institutions. Kashmir also controls the secretariat, the seat of the government. Over 90 per cent employees are from Kashmir and the share of Jammu is just negligible. Ladakh virtually has no presence in the secretariat. Besides, it is Jammu which contributes maximum revenue to the state exchequer – almost 75 to 80 per cent.
The people of Jammu and Ladakh are conspicuous by their absence anywhere in Kashmir. On the other hand, Kashmiris are found in Jammu and Ladakh in huge numbers holding official and semi-official positions, running big business houses and owning huge residential complexes.
And still Shabnam Lone and ilk say that Kashmir is gripped by an extreme sense of discontent. They are hiding the truth; they are, unlike PDP’s Muzaffar Baig, not saying the problem in Kashmir is religious that needs a religious solution: conversion of Jammu and Kashmir into a theocratic state.
They should speak the truth, and not hide it, as the Kashmiri leaders already stood exposed.
They should remember that it is not Kashmir but Jammu and Ladakh, which have been gripped by an extreme form of discontent and that’s the reason they are demanding separation from Kashmir and complete merger into India.
Delhi has to appreciate the ground realities in the state if it is to tackle the issues facing different people inhabiting different regions. There is no other alternative.
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