Delimitation report
Anil Anand
Jammu and Kashmir, after the Constitutional changes of August 5, 2019, which changed the state’s Constitutional status with far-reaching ramifications, has already been facing a plethora of problems both on social, economic and political fronts.
The problems have occurred and multiplied as contrary to the claims of the proponents of August 5, 2019 Constitutional changes that abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution granting special status to the erstwhile state and demoted Jammu and Kashmir to Union Territory, to usher the area into all round development and bevy of employment opportunities the ground realities narrate a different story. Those who generated hope to justify the Constitutional change have in fact belied the same.
In this backdrop and total unrest in the minds of people of both Jammu and Kashmir regions (a similar unrest exists in Leh and Kargil regions of Ladakh though for different reasons), the preliminary report of the Delimitation Commis-sion, as appeared in the media reports and reactions of political parties, has further added to the confusion. From the first look at the reports it seems the Delimitation exercise has been done more with a political/electoral purpose than meeting Constitutional obligations and making life easier for the people.
It serves neither the national nor the public interest. So, need for the Commission to adopt a more pragmatic and realistic approach by addressing most of the concerns, before finalising the report. To what consequence is the report if it leaves all the stakeholders dissatisfied!
There is a purpose behind the Delimitation of constituencies which primarily is to create constituencies keeping in view the size of the population and more so, as is in the case of hilly areas of Jammu and Kashmir, the topography. The preliminary report suggests that all these factors have been given a go-by with allegations that politics of a particular variety getting precedence over everything else. There is no doubt the elections are all about politics and so is, to some extent, the Delimitation process itself. But more importantly elections and the Delimitation process are also about facilitating people and their well-being which has been totally ignored in this exercise.
Apart from the now redundant Constitutional special status, Jammu and Kashmir has a special status also on account of its strategic location and more importantly due to its diversity and plurality. These factors have also been ignored while formulating the preliminary report. It has given credence to the allegations, and rightly too, that there is more than what meets the eye in this report.
Apart from the Constitutional requirement meant for undertaking a delimitation process, in cases such as Jammu and Kashmir and North Eastern states, there is another equally important factor that should always be kept in consideration and that is the ethos of these areas. Jammu and Kashmir, (as the state with Ladakh as its part) and even now as Union Territory has a special ethos which is reflected in the diversity of its erstwhile three, and currently two regions and the historic background. This ethos is being sought to be sacrificed at the altar of the political-electoral and ideological considerations of the ruling dispensation and above all the mathematical calculations in terms of electoral victory.
The draft report of the Delimitation Commission as shared by the panel with its associate members ( five Lok Sabha MPs from the UT), has already stirred a hornet’s nest with political parties, barring BJP, and social organisations in both Jammu and Kashmir regions questioning the basis and the logic behind such redrawing of boundaries of the Lok Sabha and assembly seats.
There are two main irritants reflected in the preliminary report. The one having most serious consequences is the attempt of the Delimitation Commission to consider the Union Territory as a single unit for the purpose of redrawing Lok Sabha constituencies which is a clear attempt to erase the regional characters of Jammu and Kashmir respectively. This has already created a hue and cry in both the regions.
A sample to this effect is adding the assembly constituencies from two border districts of Jammu region- Poonch and Rajouri- to Anantnag Lok Sabha seat of Kashmir Valley. The move is untenable from all respects viz geographical, political and regional and defeats the main purpose of the Delimitation process that is to facilitate people in all respects. This apart, it has already created doubts in the people’s mind particularly in the Valley about the real motive behind treating the Union Territory a single unit.
The Poonch and Rajouri areas of Jammu region were earlier part of the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency. Apart from disturbing the identity of the two regions, this arbitrary proposal of “unification” of the two regions has overlooked the geographical factors which are of immense importance in a hilly area such as Jammu and Kashmir.
One important purpose of delimitation is keeping the geographical factors in mind to ultimately make it administratively easy for the people to get their problems redressed. In this case Anantnag (Kashmir region) and Poonch-Rajouri ( Jammu region are separated by towering Pir Panjal range of mountains with only road connecting the two regions on this side, the Mughal Road, is only a fair weather road. That would imply that people of Poonch-Rajouri will have to traverse through Jammu to reach Anantnag, a distance of nearly 500 kilometers, to meet their MP if he or she belongs to that area. Same would be true if someone from people of Anantnag if someone from Poonch-Rajouri areas becomes the MP.
The question arises that how will this provide better administration?
The second irritant has been the manner in which the constituencies meant for the Scheduled Castes have been reserved and deserved, or some other constituencies eliminated to deprive the strong claimants from other political parties a chance. And at the same time questions are also being raised on the process of reserving seats for the Scheduled Tribe category which is already mired in conflict between the Gujjars (nomads) and Paharis.
In both cases the adjoining constituencies in a row, from two to three, have been reserved simultaneously. This arrangement, at least in the case of Scheduled Tribes, has also been questioned even by the BJP.
As it is Jammu and Kashmir has a chequered history of Delimitation of constituencies. The latest draft report adds another chapter to this history as it has also sought to further alter the regional character of Jammu, and Kashmir with Ladakh already having been separated.
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