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George Iype in New Delhi
On the eve of the assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh are on a collision course as the latter's sudden demand for trifurcating the border state is becoming shrill day-by-day.
The RSS contention that Jammu and Kashmir should be divided into three parts -- Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh -- has been rejected outright by Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani.
But RSS leaders are confident that they should be able to impress Advani on the need to trifurcate the violence-ridden state.
"The fact that Advaniji has rejected our demand does not mean that we are going to give it up. We are sure the Vajpayee government will see the reasons behind our argument for the division of Jammu and Kashmir and support our cause," RSS spokesperson M S Vaidya told rediff.com.
Vaidya said that trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir is one of the best means to resolve a host of issues related to the vexed Kashmir problem. "They include the rehabilitation of displaced Kashmiri Pandits and compensation to farmers in the frontier areas who have suffered losses," he said.
"If we can divide Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and create new states like Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh, what is the harm in dividing Jammu and Kashmir. So those who dub our demand as anti-national should ponder over this," the RSS official said.
Vaidya said there is no reason why the Central government should continue to give special concessions to Jammu and Kashmir.
"In the interest of the integration of India, it is essential that we abolish the specialities like a separate constitution, flag and Article 370 that the Jammu and Kashmir government enjoys. Our demand for the division of Jammu and Kashmir is to put the state back into the national mainstream," the RSS spokesperson argued.
In order to make its campaign for the trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir more 'political and prominent' the RSS has created a new front consisting of various political groups to fight the forthcoming election.
The RSS, by creating the Jammu and Kashmir National Democratic Front, would be entering the active political arena for the first time.
Vaidya said that any political party, including the BJP and the Congress, are welcome to join the new front floated by the RSS. "But whichever political party comes to our front has to support our demand for the division of Jammu and Kashmir," the RSS official insisted.
"So far, the National Conference government in Jammu and Kashmir has been undertaking discriminatory policies in the state," Vaidya said, adding that it is time India's major political parties came out against these policies.
But the RSS' shrill campaign for splitting Jammu and Kashmir has begun to embarrass the Vajpayee government. BJP leaders disclosed that one reason why the RSS has suddenly come up with the J&K trifurcation issue is because Advani is now the deputy prime minister.
"Now that Advani is the deputy prime minister, the RSS leadership feels that he is their man and therefore should be able to lend support to the divide-Kashmir campaign," a BJP leader pointed out.
He said that it is likely that Vajpayee and Advani will meet with the RSS chief K Sudershan in the next few days to hold discussions on the trifurcation demand.
Vajpayee and Advani are expected to impress the RSS leadership that they should not press ahead with the demand to split Kashmir, especially at a juncture when the Indo-Pak tensions are on an all-time high.
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