Dateline Jammu needs to be understood
By Sant Kumar Sharma
JAMMU, August 28:
Right since Independence, the state of Jammu and Kashmir has posed problems for the Indian nation. These problems arose because the state did not become a part of the Union on August 15, 1947, but October 26, 1947.
The genesis of what is called the Kashmir problem can be traced back to the events that happened between these two dates. Maharaja Hari Singh signed the document of accession with India on October 26 as Pakistani intruders killed his subjects mercilessly … in Mirpur, Muzzafarabad, Kotli and marched from Baramulla towards Srinagar.
The nomenclature Kashmir problem is misleading and does not help.
Kashmir as a shorthand for describing J&K creates its own problems as it excludes the regions of Jammu and Ladakh altogether. It also excludes the areas of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), Gilgit, Baltistan and Hunza etc (collectively called the Northern Areas) which were a part of the state of J&K on August 14, 1947.
Kashmiri separatist leaders, including moderate Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq, readily admit that it is not the Kashmir valley (comprising an area of only 15,948 square kilometers) alone which is the bone of contention.
The Jammu region spans over 26,293 square kilometers, Ladakh (comprising Leh and Kargil districts) is over 80,000 square kilometers, but has a very small population. The state of J&K (on August 14, 1947) ruled by the Maharaja was over 2,22,000 square kilometers.
JAMMU IS DIFFERENT
The Jammu region had erupted as the state government cancelled ``diversion of land to Shri AmarnathJi Shrine Board (SASB)’’. The government had done so to apparently quell the fires then raging in Kashmir valley against this May 26 order.
As the agitation in Kashmir died with the revocation of this order, it gave birth to a counter-agitation in Jammu, now raging like wild fires.
The government failed to communicate that the May 26 order issued by the state forest department did not confer ``propriety rights on the SASB’’ in respect of 800 kanals of land ``diverted for use during the yatra’’.
It should have scotched rumours, educated the masses and told them that the SASB was getting the land only ``for use during the yatra’’.
The revocation of the May 26 order was interpreted in Jammu as bowing before separatists of the Kashmir valley. It was also interpreted as an affront to the religious sentiments of the Hindus.
The simmering anger that has manifested itself on the streets of Jammu since July 1 is the culmination of the region’s perceived ``neglect and dominance by the Kashmir region’’.
The region comprises 10 districts of which Jammu and Kathua are Hindu-majority areas. In Udhampur too, the number of Hindus is fairly high and in several areas the community is a clear majority.
In other eight districts of the region, the two communities live together and the population ratio varies widely.
SECULAR ETHOS
With people of other religions like Sikhs and Christians also present in fairly large numbers, the Jammu region has been, by and large, secular. People of different ethnicities, religions and linguistic groups have continued to settle here, right since 1947. Successive waves of migrants settled in the capital city of Jammu and other areas in 1947, 1965, 1971, 1990 (Kashmiri Pandits) and 1999 (border migrants after Kargil war).
The Dogras embraced successive migrants with open arms, often much to their own detriment. The land prices have sky-rocketed, infrastructure is under strain and competition for jobs and education intense.
Kashmiri Muslims have also constructed houses and bought properties in Jammu, mainly because they feel safer, than Kashmir. Their children study in Jammu schools and tuition centres, without feeling threatened.
There have been no communal clashes in Jammu or its periphery, even after grave provocations like attacks on the symbol of Dogra pride and culture, the venerated RaghunathJi temple, in 2002.
This is a tribute to the secular ethos of the region that the counter-attack to kill those who had intruded into the RaghunathJi temple was led by the then SSP of Jammu, Mr Farooq Khan. Even as the encounter continued, and the militants were felled, there were no reports of any communal clashes anywhere.
A vast majority of Jammuites see India as their motherland. This is in sharp contrast to a section of Kashmiris who challenge the accession of J&K to India on October 26, 1947.
BASIS FOR ANGER
The Jammuites believe they have made sacrifices for the Indian nation. When militancy broke out in the Valley in 1990, several Dogra officers were posted in Kashmir. A fairly large number of policemen who died while fighting the militants in Kashmir were Dogras, including Pahari Muslims from Poonch and Rajouri, besides Doda district.
Despite this, the Dogras believe that they are taken for granted by the state and the Central governments which always prefer to make policies that are aimed at ``appeasing separatists in Kashmir’’.
This perceived ``loading the dice in favour of Kashmiris’’ is something the Jammuites feel bad about, very strongly. It has been simmering, just below the surface, for several decades and the Amarnath land row ignited the fires which now refuse to die.
In the year 2002, the total number of voters in Jammu stood at 30,91,193 and the number of voters in Kashmir was 29,86,670. Yet, the Jammu region had only 37 seats in the state assembly as opposed to 46 for the Kashmir valley.
The Kashmir region elects three Lok Sabha MPs and the Jammu only two.
This political imbalance of having more voters but getting to elect fewer legislators (both MLAs and MPs) due to skewed delimitation of constituencies is something the Jammuites now want to change.
They want fresh delimitation of constituencies leading to a more equitable power-sharing arrangement. Besides, they also want higher representation in state government services which are heavily tilted in favour of the people from Kashmir region, presently.
At another level, Kashmir consumes more electricity than Jammu, the target set by the government for collection (during 2007-08) was Rs 519 crores and Rs 417 crores, respectively. The collection from Jammu was Rs 443 crores and only Rs 246 crores were collected from Kashmir.
The feeling that has gained ground in the Jammu region, and obviously not without reasons, is that its adherence to the idea of Indian nation means it is taken for granted. In contrast to the treatment meted out to the Kashmir valley which is given concessions aimed at ``appeasement’’.
This complaint of the common Jammuites needs to be understood, in right perspective, and remedial measures taken.
Dateline Jammu has never been given due weightage by various media organizations and most journalists salivate at the thought of going to the Kashmir valley for the mileage their reporting will fetch them.
The time has now come to invest in trying to understand the aspirations of the Jammu region, as distinctly different from the Kashmir valley.