Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Feb 6: An emergency online meeting of the Apex Committee of Youth 4 Panun Kashmir was convened to deliberate upon the recent decision of the Government of India to proceed with the establishment of the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA). The meeting examined the Constitutional and administrative implications of this development, particularly its relevance to unresolved territorial justice claims within the Indian Union.
The meeting was attended by Rahul Kaul, chairman, Apex Committee; Vithal Chowdhary, its president, Digamber Raina, general secretary, Sunil Raina, vice president, Rajesh Kachroo, organising secretary, Sahil Pandita, coordinator; Rohit Bhat and Anhad Jhakhmola, joint secretary, Political Affairs. The Apex Committee undertook a focused assessment of FNTA as a governance precedent rather than as a regional comparison.
The Apex Committee observed that the FNTA framework has been advanced as a response to administrative neglect and developmental imbalance in certain districts of Nagaland. While acknowledging the State’s authority to address such issues through negotiated territorial arrangements, the Committee recorded that the Constitutional relevance of FNTA lies in its reaffirmation that territorial reorganisation and differentiated governance mechanisms remain legitimate tools within India’s Constitutional structure.
In this context, the Apex Committee noted that the case of Panun Kashmir is materially distinct and rests on substantially higher Constitutional grounds. The demand for PK arises from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and the forced displacement of an indigenous population, coupled with the prolonged failure of the State to ensure secure, collective, and territorial rehabilitation. Kashmiri Hindus continue to remain the only internally displaced indigenous community in India without a territorially anchored rehabilitation framework.
The Apex Committee categorically reiterated that PK is not a demand for autonomy or special status within the existing UT of J&K. It is a demand for the creation of a Separate Union Territory of Panun Kashmir, carved out of the Kashmir region, with clear territorial contiguity, demographic security, Constitutionally guaranteed civil and political rights, and a permanent security architecture to ensure non-recurrence of displacement.
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