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Non-valley Kashmiris seek separate states

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Non-valley Kashmiris have flayed the Jammu and Kashmir government's demand for greater autonomy and demanded separate territories for themselves.

As per the demand, the reorganisation envisages that the Jammu region be recognised as a separate state while Ladakh be separated from the state and recognised as a Union territory.

The demand also envisages the creation of a Panun Kashmir region as a Union territory in the valley for the 700,000 displaced Kashmiri Pandits who have fled the valley due to terrorism in the state.

The organisations of Panun Kashmir, the Ladakh Buddhists' Association and the Jammu Joint Students' Federation, who together have launched the People's Initiative on Peace, have demanded the political reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The organisation representatives were Panun Kashmir political affairs chairman Ajay Chrungoo, LBA president T Samphel, and JJSF president Rajinder Jamwal.

The trio flayed the government of India and the political parties saying that in the name of a 'Kashmir policy' they had ignored the plight of the Buddhists of Ladakh, the Kashmiri Hindus, and the people of Jammu of all faiths.

All the three said that the state administration was completely dominated by Muslims hailing from the valley region, and which discriminated against the other regions and faiths.

"In Leh, seven mosques have been built by the state administration but we Buddhists have not been allowed to repair the solitary Buddhist monastery located in Kargil simply because it is a region dominated by Shia Muslims," said Samphel.

Jamwal said that though Jammu was the larger region and possessed larger population in the state, it was severely under represented in the state administration. "In Jammu, 40 per cent of the divisional staff are from the valley, but in the valley itself, not one Jammuite is present at the divisional level," he pointed out.

He added that even the legislative assembly of Jammu and Kashmir was deliberately loaded against the Jammu people. "The smaller valley region has 47 seats in the assembly while Jammu, which has more people and is twice the area of the valley, has only 36 seats. Such discrimination continues in all walks of life, making it impossible for Jammu to stay in the same state," said Jamwal.

Chrungoo said that the demand for greater autonomy, as voiced by the National Conference government led by Dr Farooq Abdullah, was a very dangerous move that could threaten the unity and integrity of India.

"Despite the fact that our country does not believe in religious representation, we have allowed Kashmiri subnationalism to flourish simply because a majority of them are Muslims," he said, "This goes against the very grain of our Constitution and nation."

The trio pointed out that if the demand to restore autonomy to the level of 1952 was granted, as demanded by the Jammu and Kashmir state government in its recently released autonomy report, it would soon lead to India's balkanisation.

"Sheikh Abdullah started by demanding an autonomous Muslim state of Kashmir and the inherent politics of the move led him to then demand a plebiscite. Today, if the government of India accepts the demand to restore autonomy to the 1952 level, the move will also lead to a demand for plebiscite and separation," claimed Chrungoo.

Jamwal and Chrungoo alleged an international plot to finally separate Kashmir from India. "It is hardly coincidental that (United States President Bill) Clinton is coming to India while terrorism has gone up in Jammu and Kashmir and this demand for autonomy is being raised by the state government," said Jamwal.

Chrungoo said that when the state government set up the autonomy panel, it was almost entirely composed of National Conference members. "Non-NC members such as Dr Karan Singh, who headed it initially, and Balraj Puri resigned from the panel. We still don't know why they resigned or what was their disagreement with the panel's decisions," he said.

The Panun Kashmir leader said the autonomy report is part of the National Conference's legacy of ethnic preferences and ethnic exclusion aimed at creating an autonomous Muslim state in India wherein only a particular section from within the Muslim ruling class would hold the reins.

The state government's autonomy report says that except for the matters of defence, communication and foreign affairs, all other matters must be handled through the state government, as explicitly mentioned in Article 370 of the Constitution.

"We, as people from the state of Jammu and Kashmir, wish to remain as part of India and as citizens of India. We do not want to be citizens of Jammu and Kashmir linked to India through Article 370, which is what the state government's autonomy report is seeking to put in place," declared Chrungoo.

The trio stated that the autonomy report was not a step forward in the federalisation of India but for India's balkanisation, and pointed out that even when autonomy had been agreed to in 1952, it was to have been a temporary provision.

"The Constitution says that Article 370 is a temporary provision and even Jawaharlal Nehru said the same thing. Hence, we believe it is now time to do away with Article 370," said Chrungoo.

The autonomy report, incidentally, has asked that the word 'temporary' be removed from the Indian Constitution.

The trio added that the newly launched People's Initiative on Peace will seek to educate the people and political parties on the dangers of the autonomy report.

"We regret to find that most so-called intellectuals and political parties have been supporting the National Conference in its demand for autonomy. Even the Bharatiya Janata Party, which believes in a national culture, has tied up with the NC and has not spoken up against this dangerous autonomy report," said Chrungoo.

Samphel said that he and his colleagues have requested a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani to explain their demand for new states and Union territories, and the rejection of the autonomy report.

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