A sense of abandonment has seized Jammu and Ladakh since Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a second visit to the valley (August 26) to take stock of the troubled situation there following the death of media savvy Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani (July 8), but did not utter a word to reassure people of either region.
Security agencies believe Burhan Wani was responsible for the revival of separatist sentiments in Kashmir and instigated the stone pelting incidents to protest against the State Government’s proposal to build Sainik colonies and colonies for the ousted Kashmiri Pandits.
Now, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has crafted a consensus on the need to take a political initiative on Kashmir, as a result of which Home Minister Rajnath Singh will lead an all-party delegation to Jammu & Kashmir on September 4. However, the exclusive nature of the intervention has agitated Jammu and Ladakh which claim that by ignoring them and their legitimate demands, the Centre has inadvertently given a boost to Kashmiri Muslim sub-nationalism.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti came to New Delhi to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 27, to discuss the Islamic State-jihadi dimension of the current trouble, but fuelled misgivings in Jammu and Ladakh when she arrived without Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Now, citing security concerns, Ladakh has upped the ante for secession from the Valley and complete political, constitutional and financial integration with India. It is pertinent that BJP swept the elections to the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh, on October 17, 2015, winning 18 out of 26 elected seats (four are filled by nomination), on the promise of Union Territory status for Ladakh. This is a long standing demand of the people, to which the Congress, National Conference and People’s Democratic Party have been opposed.
Troubled by the growing unrest in the region, however, Ladakh is demanding trifurcation of the State. In Jammu province, the demand is for quadrification, viz., Jammu, Ladakh, Kashmir, and Panun Kashmir for Pandits carved out of the valley from which they were expelled.
The people of Ladakh are pressing for a deadline for abrogation of Article 370, which is a prerequisite for the region achieving Union Territory status. BJP MP from Ladakh, Thupstan Chhewang, is attempting to forge a coalition of all political parties in Ladakh to push for UT status. The Congress is said to now support the demand. Given the fact that Ladakh shares a border with China and has been subjected to intrusions in past years, the demand deserves serious attention by New Delhi.
So far, the Ladakhi Buddhist Association, Anjuman Imamia and Christian Association of the area have jointly submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi through Deputy Commissioner Leh (August 13) demanding Union Territory status with an elected legislature, insisting that the Valley leadership cannot be the leaders of Ladakhis. The movement has so far received scant attention from the mainstream media, but if conditions deteriorate further, the Centre may have to take a call on insulating Jammu and Ladakh from the ongoing saga of violence.
Ironically, the memorandum coincided with PDP MP Muzaffar Baig publicly warning that the current protests in the valley were orchestrated and were not part of a political struggle, but a jihad, inspired by ISIS ideology. Baig cautioned that, “Today, there is new ideology of revivalism of Khilafat and ISIS, post-Arab spring, which want to restore Muslim rule across the world. Though there is no presence of ISIS in Kashmir, but teenagers are influenced by this ideology and there is change in militant struggle which is inspired by religious ideology and won’t be convinced by political concessions”. He added that a network of madrassas in Kashmir is imparting politico-religious and anti-India teaching to the children of the poor.
The Ladakh argument for UT status rests on the fact that the region comprises 69.6% of the state’s land area and has independent geo-political and geo-cultural aspirations and will not permit the Kashmir Valley leadership to impose its will on Ladakh and “govern the region to the people’s utter ruin”. Warning the Prime Minister that handling the Kashmir issue in isolation by ignoring the problems of Ladakh would be counter-productive, the memorandum claims that grant of Union Territory status with a separate legislature alone would end the present political ambivalence.
In Jammu province, too, the demand is growing for a political instrument invested with legislative, executive and financial powers as the only way to end the 70-year-old Kashmiri Muslim domination and hegemony.
Jammu leaders point out that during her meeting with Prime Minister Modi, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti made some remarks against Pakistan and the separatists to satisfy the pro-India constituency, but also made divisive remarks by demanding that Pakistan and the separatists be engaged in a substantive dialogue in the light of contemporary geo-political realities. She hinted at then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famed Agra summit, which ended in fiasco.
These remarks have angered Jammu For India (JFI), a grassroots movement for full integration with the Republic, which has pointed out that Mehbooba Mufti’s remarks negate the Prime Minister’s August 15 views on Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.
The JFI claims that in recent times, maulvis from Malaysia and other places have been visiting Samba district and that foreign money is involved in the radicalisation of the State.
Abplive.in/blog 31 August 2016
http://www.abplive.in/blog/kashmir-initiative-leaves-jammu-ladakh-bereft