Statehood to J&K or a Jammu state!!

Chanakya Charan Dass "Tikri"

chanakya.charandass.tikri@gmail.com

These days there is a clamour for restoration of statehood for J&K, especially amongst Kashmir based politicians while Saif-ud-Din Soz, the senior INC leader is looking for restoration of the un-operationalized article 370 of the Indian Constitution. It is also a fact that the government of India (GoI) has assured the Parliament that the statehood would be restored to JandK "at an appropriate time".

Today the people of J&K are given to believe that everything was blissful, heavenly and hunky-dory when it was a state and rivers of butter and honey were flowing here. They want the people to forget that when J&K was a state calendars for hartal and bundh used to be issued and schools and colleges would be force closed for months together without caring for the future of the students. The business establishments as well as government offices and banks would remain closed for months at a time. There was uncertainty everywhere.

The people of J&K are being asked, by the gang of statehood restorers, to erase the memories of hundreds of stone-throwing youths who died on roads of Kashmir when J&K was a state. They are also being asked to forget the death, destruction and mayhem caused by the terrorists in the mountainous regions of Jammu region as well as in the plains while J&K was a state.

J&K was a state when close to 50,000 people (terrorists + civilians + security personnel) lost their lives in terror related incidents between 1989 and 2019. Thousands more were maimed. Thousands of schools, colleges, private, commercial and government properties were burnt and ransacked. Close to 500,000 Kashmiri Pandits/Hindus, the aborigines of Kashmir, were thrown out of Kashmir in 1989/90. Thousands also escaped to the plainer areas of Jammu region from the adjoining mountainous areas to escape the cruelty of the terrorists and their cohorts.

Today the group of statehood restorers ask us to forget that from 26th of October,1947 to 9th of August 1953, when Sheikh Abdullah, the then PM of J&K was arrested, the state was a Republic within the Republic of India.

Underline the words: J&K was a Republic within a Republic!!

J&K continued to be in turmoil because of game of deception being played by the powerful. In fact, deception started prior to the invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani raiders. Sheikh Abdullah had sent Bakshi Ghulam Mohamad and Ghulam Muhammad Sadiq to Pakistan with a brief to mend fences with him. They were not given audience by Jinnah nor by their PM as Jinnah thought that Kashmir would be in his pocket anyway.

The protagonists of statehood want us to believe that it was the Sheikh who delivered Kashmir to India. They also want us to forget that under the India Independence Act of the British Parliament it was the ruler of the princely state who could decide the dominion he/she wanted to join through the Instrument of Accession and that Maharaja Hari signed the Instrument in favour of India.

In the heart of his heart the Sheikh must have felt delighted after the instrument of accession was signed as he knew that his future in Pakistan would be very bleak. This is because his relations with MA Jinnah were irreparably damaged. The Sheikh admits as much in his autobiography "Atish-e-Chinar" wherein he mentions that "at that time, Jinnah was intoxicated with power. He thought it beneath his dignity to talk to a poor and resourceless nation. When this equation of power went against him, he woke up in panic from his dream. But by this time, the snake had passed, only its line remained."

However, after the happenings of 1947/48, when a major portion of J&K was occupied by Pakistan and India went to UN for resolution of the issue, the shrewd politician in the Sheikh saw an opportunity to claim his pound of flesh and Nehru acceded to him by way of Delhi Agreement. Therefore, the canard being spread by Saif-ud-Din Soz that the Muslim majority state of J&K did a big "ahsaan" on a Hindu majority India by joining it is nothing but a negation of the nuances of history.

In fact, it is during this period, when J&K was a Republic within a Republic, Kashmiri pollical leadership weaponised the art of "running with India & hunting with Pakistan". Actions of the Sheikh belittled Nehru in the eyes of his cabinet and the Parliament when the Sheikh selectively implemented those clauses of the Delhi agreement that suited him and the rest on a line. Delhi Agreement was the first template designed to bring unanimity between the J&K and the Union Government on issues of relationship between J&K and the rest of the country.

The template of Delhi Agreement failed because it was not based on sound principles of prudence, justice, democracy and equality but on the personal friendship between the Sheikh & Nehru.

The seekers of statehood for J&K should answer this question as to whether Jammu province had any say in the decisions arrived at between the Sheikh and Nehru on Delhi Agreement? None!!

Now come to the constituent assembly elections of J&K. They were rigged by the Sheikh government while Nehru looked the other way and NC won 75/75 seats!!

While Jammuites were sidelined the Nehru government was busy appeasing the Kashmiri political leadership. Pakistan was their trump card which they used to the hilt!!

This was the first political template for J&K designed by the Sheikh and approved by Nehru in which, using the lawn tennis terminology, the game and set was handed over meekly by Nehru to the Kashmiri political leadership along with the court, racquets and the ball!!

Jammu got nothing!!

The second template designed for J&K was between 1953 and 1975 when the National Conference led by GM Sadiq merged into the Indian National Congress. Sheikh Abdullah continued with Plebiscite Front.

However, the 2nd template, too, did not change anything for Jammuites. The administrative control of J&K continued to be in the hands of the Kashmiri political leadership and discrimination continued.

At political level it was Dr. Karan Singh who understood the situation very well.

To meet the demands of the people of Jammu and Ladakh he pushed for autonomy to the three regions of the state within the framework of the now abrogated constitution of JandK. The suggestion was sincere and apt but GM Sadiq the then CM of J&K addressed a press conference on 26.06.1967 in which he said that "…the idea of regional autonomy is completely against the interest of the State. It is rather a mischievous move".

Dr. Karan Singh was taken aback by the diatribe of the CM, and he wrote a landmark letter to Indira Gandhi on 10.07.1967 wherein he stated that "..the present political structure of the state does not fulfil the genuine & democratic aspirations of the people of its three regions - Kashmir, Jammu & Ladakh".

In the letter Dr. Karan Singh mentioned that either the regional aspirations of all the three regions of the state should be fulfilled or the other possibility of reorganisation of the state should be explored. Dr. Karan Singh was not in favour of reorganization outrightly, and he insisted on regional autonomy. However, he was the first ever politician who put the idea of reorganization of the state on table!!

And how did the Kashmiri political leadership respond to the idea of autonomy? Dr. Karan Singh answers this question in his letter himself: "They, through its Field Survey Organization tried to completely distort the whole idea of regional autonomy & arouse caste & communal prejudices against it".

Therefore, what could be concluded from these episodes? It is that the Kashmiri politicians, of whichever hue or ideological dispensation, were never interested in resolution of regional disparities even within the framework of the abrogated State constitution.

Fast forward to the 5th of August 2019! On this day the GoI decided to apply (n-1)th template on J&K to align it with the mainstream of the Indian Nation.

Consequently, Ladakh became a Union Territory. The desire of Kushak Bakula, as expressed by him to Dr. Karan Singh during his trip to Ladakh in September 1952 was eventually fulfilled. But what about Jammu?!

Has Jammu been empowered politically in any way since the letter of Dr. Karan Singh to Indira Gandhi in 1967? No!!

It's nearly been 60 years!!

To be fair, because of the efforts of the GoI and the Lieutenant Governor's administration prior to the elections to the J&K legislature, a lot has changed in Jammu. It is visible on the ground for the one who keeps his/her unprejudiced eyes open. But, after the elections to the legislature Jammu province is back to square one!!

Candidly speaking, the demographic composition of J&K as well as the numerical strength from Jammu & Kashmir provinces in the legislature is such that Jammu can never have a real shot at the post of Chief Minister.

And the post of Chief Minister matters!!

Jammu, at best, can aspire for "deputyship" but never a Chief Minister. And "deputyship" means what it means!!

Ghulam Nabi Azad, the first ever CM of J&K from Jammu, was an exception. He too was not allowed to complete his tenure and fell to the machinations of the Kashmiri politicians.

Therefore, empowerment of Jammu province is possible only if it attains statehood and is de-hyphenated from Kashmir. This is the only way by which the people of Jammu will be able to decide their own future.

A Chief Minister elected for the state of Jammu through the will of the people of Jammu province will be responsible to the people of Jammu irrespective of whether he/she is a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Jain, Bodh or a Gujar, Bakarwal or Gaddi or from any caste or creed. He/she could be speaking any of the 15 odd languages / dialects of Jammu region but will still be responsible to the people of Jammu.

The PM/Chief Ministers elected hitherto in J&K, since 1947, have been elected by the people of Kashmir. The Kashmir centric political parties have been able to muster enough seats from Kashmir for obvious reasons and therefore their treatment of Jammu is like that of a far-off cousin.

The ministers from Jammu province in the cabinet led by Kashmiri politicians can hardly be blamed for their situation. This is because they are compelled by the realities of politics to look over, 24x7, towards Gupkar for endorsement. Recently the ministers from Jammu got a rap on their knuckles from the NC ministers and legislators of Kashmir, not for their "performance" in Jammu, but for their "ineffectiveness" in Kashmir. Many aspirants for positions of ministership in NC must be considering them as "squatters" in ministerial berths!!

From 1947 to 2026 J&K State came under central rule 8 times (cumulatively a period of over 15 years) because of the machinations of the Kashmiri politicians. People of Jammu province, again, had no role in this.

The only way Jammu province can be empowered is by carving it as the 29th state of the Indian Union. All other permutations and combinations are meaningless.

PS: A clear distinction between the Kashmiri politicians and the Kashmiri people must be drawn. The former give preference to their personal interests the later are gullible and jolly good people.