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| J&K symbol of secular India and, hence, non-negotiable | | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 4: It must be noted that the State of Jammu and Kashmir has never been an organic political entity ever since its formation in March 1846 under the Treaty of Amritsar, signed between Raja of Jammu, Gulab Singh, and the British Government. Till the accession of the state to the Indian Dominion, the Maharaja was the sole link among the heterogeneous regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. In the fitness of things, the best way after the state's accession to India was to bring Jammu and Kashmir under the purview of the States' Re-organization Commission and create three States of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh on a regional basis. This was not done. Instead, the state was maintained as one political entity.
The reorganization of the state was a matter of central importance in view of the well-known anti-Jammu mindset of the Valley leadership as clearly exhibited in the course of Anjuman-e-Islamia/ Muslim Conference/National Conference struggles such as the October 1924 scrap Amritsar Treaty Movement and the 1946 Quit Kashmir Movement, as also the known apathy of the Valley for the minorities. Unfortunately, this too was not done. What was done was to the contrary. The state, at the behest of the Valley-based National Conference, was given a special status under Article 370. This was done much against the wishes of the people of Jammu and Ladakh and other pro-integrationist forces in the state. This measure added fuel to the fire, aggravated the dark scenario of regional mistrust and bitterness and rendered the minorities helpless.
Armed with absolute political powers under Article370, the Valley leaders ruled the state roughshod, completely ignoring the general political and economic rights and interests of the people of Jammu and Ladakh and the religious and ethnic minorities like the Gujjar and Bsakerwal Muslims and Shiite Muslims and created an environment in which no person from Jammu or Ladakh could reside and serve in Kashmir or become Chief Minister of the state. (Ghulam Nabi Azad, who served the state as Chief Minister from November 2, 2005 to July 7, 2008, is also ethnically Kashmiri.) It was not a mere lapse on their part. All was deliberate - a part of design in which fitted what may be termed as their elemental urge for revenge against Jammu, which paid a sum of Rs 75 lakh to the British Government in 1846 and ruled over the Valley for 101 years and establish the Valley's hegemony over the state's politics and economy.
Some of the consequences of the policies the Kashmiri leaders evolved and pursued ruthlessly were: wholesale transfer of Jammuites, Ladakhis and Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley to Jammu and Ladakh; appointment of thousands of persons from the Valley in Jammu and Ladakh against vacancies caused by retirement, death or dismissal of incumbents and additional requirements; diversion of funds allotted for Jammu and Ladakh to the Valley; creation of a Muslim-majority Doda district out of a Hindu-majority Udhampur district in 1948 and division of the Buddhist-majority Ladakh district in 1978-79 in order to set up a Muslim-majority Kargil district.
Had the decision-makers federalized the state's polity immediately after the transfer of power from Jammu to Kashmir in October 1947 and provided adequate constitutional safeguards for the protection and promotion of general political and economic rights and interests of all the non-Kashmiris who favoured, and continue to favour, a line different from that of the Kashmiri Muslim leaders, there would have been no unrest in Jammu and Ladakh and among the Gujjars and Bakerwals Muslims, Shiite Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits - a point deliberately ignored by all those who matter or make public opinion. And, had India tackled Pakistan effectively at Shimla in 1972, if not in 1947-1948, there would have been no Kashmir problem today.
New Delhi has already wasted 63 long years. It has neither adopted clear-cut policy on Jammu and Kashmir, which is the symbol of secular, liberal and democratic India, nor has it done anything to empower the deprived regions of the state. It is never too late to rectify mistakes. Hence, it is incumbent of the Union Government to make its stand on Jammu and Kashmir clear by telling everyone that it would not compromise its position even marginally on this frontline state. In other words, it should restart afresh the process of the state's full integration into India by extending to the state those Central laws which still remain to be applied. To be more precise, it should delete from the Indian Constitution that provision that treats Jammu and Kashmir differently.
Likewise, it should reorganize the state forthwith on regional basis so that Jammu and Ladakh are able to exercise all those rights which other states of the Union exercise under the Indian Constitution. This is imperative. The empowerment of Jammu and Ladakh means the creation of an environment that helps New Delhi tackle Kashmir effectively and defeat comprehensively the negative forces there. New Delhi would commit a blunder if it doesn't act on both these issues simultaneously - full integration of Kashmir and reorganization of the state. (Concluded)
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