Dr. Sudershan Kumar
On 16th March 1846, Maharaja Gulab Singh signed a treaty at Amritsar consequent to the defeat of Sikhs in the first anglo-sikh war after the payment of 7.6 million Nanak Shahi rupees (Sikh currency) to British Government. This paved the way for the foundation of Dogra rule under various rulers until Maharaja Hari Singh,who signed an instrument of accession for merger with Indian Union on 26th Oct.1947. At the time of partition then, the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had four provinces namely Jammu, Kashmir , Ladakh and Gilgit Baltistan. After partition Pakistan, illegally occupied some portion of Jammu Division, Kashmir (commonly known Pakistan occupied Kashmir) and Gilgit Baltistan.As the tradition goes, this Jammu city was built by Raja Jambu Lochan in fourteenth century BC after witnessing a rare event of coexistence and empathy between a lion and a goat on the banks of river Tawi. As of today, Jammu Division has an area of around 26293 sq.kms and population of 5350811 (as per 2011 census report). Comprising of 10 districts, there are some areas of Jammu division namely Bhimber, Kotli, Mirpur Haveli Bagh and Sudhanoti which are illegally occupied by Pakistan. As per demographic data, there are 64% Hindus 24% Muslims, and 2% Sikhs and other communities. Over the years, politics has taken a toll on Jammu and it has found itself on the opposite end of favouritism. Consequent to the discrimination meted out to the unemployed educated youth of Jammu, there has been a dearth of employment opportunities for graduates, post graduates and technical graduates who pass out every year.At present ,there are two medical colleges, two dental colleges, one Central university, three other universities, large number of degree colleges and many other private institutions /colleges. But the ensuing result of discrimination is evident as the youth of Jammu are forced to move out to different parts of the country for better livelihood leaving behind their parents who later dispose off the houses and move out of state to stay with their children. As a result, large number of Dogra families have moved out of Jammu region to the other parts of the country. This silent exodus can be termed as “silent migration”. The reason for this is the widespread apprehension prevalent among the younger generation that the political decisions taken in the state are Kashmir centric and allocation of funds for Jammu and Ladakh are perpetually discriminating and ironically Jammu and Ladakh regions represent 44% and 2% of total population of the state respectively. This disparity, discrimination and neglect with Jammu division is happening since decades.
To further discern these complexities , the pages of history need to be unfolded back to the period of the beginning of 1951, when the then political leadership of National Conference ignored the census report of 1941 and delinked itself from the census operations which were going on at that time in the rest of the country. They delimited the constituents in an arbitrary manner thereby shutting eyes and becoming oblivious towards the large scale demographic turmoil in the state. This resulted in to more number of constituencies from Kashmir division as compared to that of Jammu and Ladakh divisions. This paved the way for shifting of power center to Kashmir Division even though Jammu and Ladakh divisions were part of it. As a sequale ,every time the chief minister of the state is bound to hail from Kashmir valley. Thus it was natural that the chief minister once elected from Kashmir division would be inclined towards the development of Kashmir. That is what exactly happened. Jammu region which represents 44% of total population of state was neglected and depreciated in terms of employment generation, funds allotments, infrastructure developments in the field of education, health, agriculture, tourism and connectivity through roads and in many other aspects. This led to regional imbalances. This is contrary to the tall claims of various political parties in power that due importance has been given to Jammu region. Moreover, in terms of employment generation, fund allotments and infrastructure developments, Kashmir division has always got lions share.To further endorse this disparity is the overview of the strength of employees in the civil secretariat based on open literature and reports where it was found that 90% employees are from Kashmir division and in 12 Jammu and Kashmir Corporations whose headquarters are at Srinagar, nearly all the employees belong to Kashmir valley. Similarly in other state Government departments majority of the employees are from Kashmir valley. And as a matter of fact, the unemployment in Jammu is double as compared to that of Srinagar. These numbers may vary but the fact of discrimination with Jammu for providing opportunities to youths is true.
The resultant anguish and resentment against disparity has led to uproars. These were in the form of protests and strikes but every time, these core issues have been fizzled out. There have been scattered incidents where large number of Jammu based political outfits namely National Panther’s party, Jammu Maha Sabha, Jammu People front, Jammu Mukti Morcha and many others came forward to advocate and fight for the stepmotherly treatment given to Jammu region but nothing emerged. Parallaly, successive State Goverments tried to address the issue of regional imbalances and disparity. They constituted Gajanderdara Gadkur Commission (1967), Qadri Commission (1972) Sikri Commission (1979) and Wazir Commission (1989) to get some remedy for ailing Jammu region. Even these exercises proved to be eye washes without much dividends.
Moreover, the beginning of the era of militancy and turmoil in Kashmir valley further changed the dynamics of the state completely. This aspect has been adequately described by columnists, journalists and media in different newspapers/ TV debates. Therefore author will like to add that a defensive, timed and appeasement approach adopted by successive Governments both at State and Centre has emboldened anti social elements, militants, stone pelters and disgruntled elements to raise anti India boggie. Worthwhile to mention is that some section of society along with politicians started supporting the cause of stone pelters further vitiating the environment . The killing of unarmed young army officer Lietuenant Ummer Fayas, lynching of Deputy Superintendent of J&K Police Ayub Pandit and attack on Amar Nath Yatri bus at Khanbal in Anantnag district reflects the gravity of ground situation in valley and also indicates that up to what extent the militants can go instigate the fire of communal tension. Hence at present, the State and Central administrative machinery is completely invo-lved in bringing the normalcy in Kashmir valley.
Taking all these factors into consideration, it is not out of context to mention and highlight the lack of efforts towards generation of employments, allotment of funds, establishment of infrastructure in health education, agriculture, tourism and road construction etc in Jammu. Furthermore,even the existing avenues of employment for youths of Jammu region have been denied through the nexus of officials, experts and consultants in State Public Service Commission. Even the policy documents of commission have been found to be forged. This has further perpetuated frustration and grievances among the local youths of Jammu division. To further add to the disparities in Jammu region is the terms of settlement of large number of migrants in and around Jammu city following Kashmir unrest. To make matters worse, thousands of Rohingyas ( one of the notorious commumity from Myanmar) have established their colonies in the outskirts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu division. This can be seen as a valiant attempt to change the demography of Jammu region and also to disturb the peace which is existing in Jammu province since centuries. Though, there has been voices against this but nothing solid has been done by State Government for their repatriation except for constituent of committee for examination of all aspects. Also recently there has been a move from certain sections of State Government for introduction of Kashmiri language in the colleges of Jammu region, but no mention of Dogri and Punjabi which is spoken in Jammu division by a vast majority.. This also reflects the nefarious designs of certain sections of people to disturb the communal harmony. Besides, a large influx of people into Jammu region has further added to the woes of the localites in terms of frequent traffic jam, inadequate drinking water supply and frequent power cuts.The existing infrastructure has been choked beyond its capacity.It needs immediate up gradation. The author has had the opportunity to interact with a large cross section of society in different places in Jammu region and everyone echoed with one voice their apprehension about all the above mentioned issues. They were more concerned about the youths’ aspirations which seen to loom in darkness.
Even in 3 days of RSS Akhil Bhartiya Samelan, the issue of disparity and equal distribution of funds were debated and every one vouched for equal treatment to all the three regions. Therefore, it is high time that all responsible political people from Jammu region should raise once voice to efface and eliminate the disparity between the three regions and evolve a strategy to address all the issues.
(The author is former Director General DRDO & Special Secretary MOD GOI)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
Follow our WhatsApp channel