Lt Col Mukund Singh Jamwal (Retd)
In an article entitled “Wake up call for Jammuites” published in Daily Excelsior Jammu dated 26 Nov 2004 this writer had written ,” Continuing with the saga of the people voted by the Jammuites to rule , when NDA coalition was ruling at the Centre , they had announced with much fanfare that Government Medical College Jammu would be brought at par with All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). With the Congress led coalition coming to power at the Centre , the project seems to have died down thereby proving — if indeed a proof was needed—that as far as Jammu was concerned , it was a non entity for the Congress be it of the state or the Centre variety. And if the past record of this party is any indication , Jammuites should not be surprised if the proposed upgradation of Medical College Jammu transforms itself into upgradation of Medical College at Srinagar”.
Eleven years hence this prophecy has come true. It was , however , beyond the wildest imagination of anyone that the drivers behind this shift in 2015 would be the NDA Govt itself and most specifically the BJP , the self professed protectors of Jammu region’s interests.
Having been ruled by the Kashmiri or Kashmir centric parties ever since the state acceded to the Indian union in Oct 1947, the people of Jammu had always felt as political orphans , resigned to the fact that being second class citizens in their own state , they will get nothing unless they fight for it. All along during this period , the BJP , initially in its avtar of Praja Parishad and then as Jan Sangh , stood by the Jammuites as champions of its cause but since it never secured more than 6/7 seats in the legislative assembly , it was not in a position to influence the decision making for Jammuite’s benefits in the state.
It was therefore a God sent opportunity for the BJP , when the party , riding on the Tsunami called Modi , received whole hearted support from Jammuites and was voted as the largest party from Jammu region in the state assembly with a record 25 seats. Having played their part by giving the BJP the desired legislative handle , the Jammuites were smug in their belief that their interests would now be safeguarded and that regional discrimination with Jammu shall be removed. Alas ! that was not to be.
With 25 seats and additional 3 seats of its allies/independent , the BJP had almost as many seats as the PDP in the assembly and yet the party accepted junior partner’s role in formation of the Government. It conceded more ministerial berths to PDP and accepted less important ministires.That it had its feet of clay bacame apparent when it bartered away the earlier announced AIIMS for Jammu to Srinagar. This came as a big jolt to Jammuites. Jammu was once again being discriminated against but irony was that this time it was the at the hands of BJP , the party which was supposed to put an end to this discrimination.
Jammu quite naturally erupted against this flagrant discrimination and an agitation led by the ACC ( AIIMS Coordination Committee) was started. The ACC demanded that the government give an undertaking in writing that an announcement regarding establishment of AIIMS shall be made by 20th Jul 2015 , failing which Jammu was to observe Bundh for 72 hours. There was a flurry of consultations between the National and state BJP and thereafter the Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Nirmal Singh , apparently at the behest of Central Government gave it in writing that an AIIMS for Jammu shall be announced by 20th Jul. That the Central government as well as the National BJP cared a fig for the prestige , dignity and the written commitment of its own Deputy Chief Minister , which was given by him at their behest, became apparent when no announcement was made by the Central Government regarding AIIMS by the given date.
The ACC gave a further ten days time to the BJP to come good on their promise. The state BJP leaders once again rushed to Delhi to get some sort of announcement on AIIMS. After a lot of persuasion , all that the Union Health Minister announced was that Jammu was also to be provided with AIIMS like facilities.
This was downright insulting and humiliating for Jammuites who then embarked upon the path of struggle in the familiar form of Jammu Bandh to obtain what is rightfully due to them. What is , however , baffling in this whole episode is the confrontist approach of the BJP. The party owes all its seats in the Assembly to the Jammuites. They won all these seats only and only on the promise that they will end discrimination with Jammu region and yet at the first such oppurtunity , they not only failed to safeguard the region’s interests but themselves took away the AIIMS granted to them. Thereafter , they used all the might of the government to befool and break the will of the very people who had elected them.
Knowing fully well that the centre has nowhere announced a clear cut AIIMS for Jammu , the BJP tried to make a big song and dance out of the most mishievious announcement of the Centre regarding AIIMS like facilities to Jammu trying to create an impression as if AIIMS had been sancioned. They also used strong arm tactics to make the Bundh a failure by forcibly getting the shops opened at some places. And just look at the arguments advanced by the party to counter the demand of Jammuites.
First it was the RSS man Indresh who declared that Jammuites should stop competing with Kashmir for everything. He doled out the most uncalled for advice that every time something is given to Srinagar Jammu should not ask for the same. He very conveniently forgot that the AIIMS had initially been announced for Jammu. Like BJP he also forgot that there was something called discrimination which Jammu had been facing since independence and also that the BJP had been voted to power by the Jammuites precisely to end that discrimination.
Then It was said that the agitation was being supported by the opposition parties. Well, so what? It was the first time that all the parties including valley based , have supported the Jammuites , except of course the BJP which was voted to look after the interests of Jammu region. Whether the opposition parties did or did not support Jammu in the past is immaterial. BJP too did have a golden oppurtunity to repay the Jammuites for the whole hearted support it had received during elections by supporting the people but it failed miserably.
Another argument was that the AIIMS had been given by the previous NDA govt to Jammu but the then state govt converted that to a Super Speciality Hospital. This is quite a spurious argument. It was basically to rectify this bias of the Kashmir based or Kashmir centric govts against Jammu that the Jammuites had voted for the BJP. The party was expected to do for Jammu what the previous govts had denied to it. So that certainly could not have been a basis for denying AIIMS to Jammu and give them only AIIMS like facilities.
Union Health Ministry’s letter to the state government asking it to identify 200 acres land for AIIMS in Jammu as well as Srinagar seems to be a ploy to stall the agitation in Jammu. The reluctance of the Central BJP Government in granting full fledged AIIMS is rather curious. Modi has already announced two AIIMS for Bihar , so why not one for Jammu. Apparently , elections are shortly to be held in Bihar , whereas tha same are over in J&K.
In the meanwhile the BJP is resorting to tactics aimed at pulling wool over the eyes of Jammuites. On Friday they took out a rally in the city to celebrate the announcement of AIIMS like facilities in Jammu trying to convince people that the AIIMS had infact been sanctioned for Jammu. If indeed that was true then it was a victory of Jammuites sans BJP and it was the ACC who should have been celebrating . It is , however , quite preplexing to see that while section 144 of RPC stands promulgated , the BJP is allowed to take out a rally whereas the ACC which is carrying on a Relay Hunger strike is not allowed to do so by the administration.
There is no doubt that the BJP here is in a self destruct mode. They have miserably failed the Jammuites. They have cut the very roots on which they are standing. Almost all the BJP sympathisers are furious and unanimous in their opinion that AIIMS or no AIIMS , the party has already scored a self goal and from here onwards it is only downhill for the party. For Jammuites it had always been “Ekla Chalo” and they will secure what is rightfully theirs despite the power hungry and self centred politicians who are out to sabotage the cause of Jammu.
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