Men, Matters & Memories
M L Kotru
Mr. Narendra Modi”s honeymoon with the country remains unabated as his Government sails into its fourth week in office. There are no signs of wear. Yes, there were a couple of hiccups like the maverick ex-soldier V.K. Singh now serving as one of Modi’s junior Ministers, opting to shoot his mouth but the Government, nevertheless, continue to be sailing smoothly.
Food inflation may have refused to yield or the rupee may have resumed its free fall, not alarmingly, though but Mr. Arun Jaitley, the Finance Minister, can be trusted to balance the uncertainties. His budget, expected to be unveiled very shortly, will give us a clear indication of what to expect in the year ahead. And the portents are not ominous, for a change.
But State Assembly elections due in a few months new hot issues have to be found to fetch votes. Thus it is always good to test the waters first. Hence the question why should Article 370 of the Constitution, touching upon the special relationship between the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union of India, or the other question relating to demographic imbalance between the various region of the State not be focused upon in the build up towards the elections in the State.
Some Kashmiri parties might think the Article is a bridge connecting the State to the rest of the country but does that preclude any discussion or debate of its relevance now. But the issue is that the BJP has misread the massive mandate it got in the Lok Sabha elections as a nod for undoing Article 370 in J&K or having a uniform civil code for Hindus and Muslims alike; the mandate given to Narendra Modi was on the promise of development and good governance which in turn would ensure security, education, employment, healthcare infrastructure and overall prosperity of the nation.
The mandate frankly does not give much room for irresponsible comments by some of Mr. Modi’s Ministers which would seem to suggest that Hindutava is the core agenda of the Government. Mr. Modi must rein in the extremist elements in his crew. You cannot take the voters for granted.
Having said that, leaders like the Abdullahs of Jammu and Kashmir must also understand that the State is not a family fief of theirs which rules out any debate on the nature of the relationship between the State and the Union, including Article 370. The late Gopalaswami Iyengar, a former Prime Minister of the princely State of Jammu and Kashmir and later a senior Minister in Nehru’s Cabinet (he was one of the prime exponents of India’s position on Kashmir at the UN nearly six decades ago) who was the virtual architect of Article 370 of our Constitution in 1949; he argued that Kashmir (for a variety of reasons) was not ripe for integration in the Union.
The provisions of the Article have been considerably eroded in the subsequent years and largely in the interests of the people of the State, with union laws extended to the State.
Yet to maintain the delicate balance of legal entities within the Constitution, Article 370 he believed should remain. Nor is there any need for the BJP and its Government to raise, even in the electoral context, issues which betoken separatism of a different kind, like the Hindu population of Jammu outnumbering Muslims in the valley, implying that the valley is unduly given precedence over the Hindu majority Jammu.
It sounds strange when such arguments are advanced in the context of having Kashmiri Pandit resettlements in the valley or raising separatist tendencies in various regions of the State. By bringing in Kashmiri Pandits against this backdrop they are unwittingly being made pawns in the regional game.
The BJP already is in full cry and it won’t be long before other mainstream parties like the People’s Democratic Party, the National Conference and the Congress join battle. The NC-Congress alliance appears to have all but collapsed. The BJP is still basking in the glory that was the general election that established its primacy as a major force nationally just weeks ago. Hence the party’s stridency in introducing undesirable elements as part of its campaign in Jammu province.
The tide continues to ride in its favour and the jingoistic colour it has given to its Assembly campaign, by underlining “Hindu Jammu” and “Muslim Valley” as its poll plank. It should work well in the province at the moment. And to go by its current assessment and with the blessings of its top leadership in New Delhi, it may even be dreaming of gaining a decisive say in determining the kind of Government the State should have.
The party’s campaign has already written off the Abdullahs and their National Conference and I am tempted to accept that as a fact. Its alliance with Congress in tatters, there obviously is little the NC can expect at the end of the State level polls.
The challenge in the valley would predictably come from the People’s Democratic Party of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. The Mufti and his daughter, Mehbooba, seem to have sewn up the outcome in the valley, hoping to score some in the Jammu province, its Muslim dominated areas particularly. The Congress Party has ceased to be a factor outside the limited confines of the odd pocket of influence here and there.
The Omar Abdullah government’s dismal record is hardly inspiring. The Congress and its mascots Ghulam Nabi Azad and Saifuddin Soz seem to have become irrelevant in the emerging scene. This to my mind leaves the field virtually open for the Muftis to reap the benefits of the work they have put in during the past few years as the main Opposition. I am nevertheless not very sure of the party’s standing in Jammu province although Mufti Sayeed to my mind has invested in several pockets there. He has been spending a good deal of time in Jammu building up a party cadre, establishing a grassroots presence.
Have tried to look hard and from close at the crystal ball, unfortunately without any clue as to what lies ahead. By emphasizing the regional imbalances, throwing in Ladakh as well into the fray, BJP may even be fancying a substantially larger presence in the State Assembly, one which may let it have a say in determining the colour of a future dispensation there. Having claimed that Jammu Hindus constitute a majority of the State’s population it may not be far from their minds to see a party man or at the very least one backed by it becoming the Chief Minister. And the question has already been asked why should the valley always get the Chief executive’s place in the State.
How myopic can one be? Not everything needs to be spelt out in bold letters. Yes, even after conceding the BJP’s triumph in the general elections! Not everything needs to be emblazoned on the slopes of Pir Panchal mountain slopes to enable you to look beyond your nose. The tone and tenor of the BJP campaign in Jammu and Kashmir is to say the least very alarming.
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