B.K. Chum
What next in Jammu and Kashmir? The answer will largely depend on the form the controversies arising after the formation of the PDP-BJP coalition Government will take. These controversies have arisen due to the ruling parties clashing interests and moderate Hurriyat Conference’s demand for Islamicisation of education in the state. Another controversy relates to the separatist-terrorist Masarat Alam arrest under the Public Safety Act for waving Pakistan flag and inciting crowds raise anti-India slogans.
Formation of the PDP-BJP Government was considered as a good omen for the separatist-terrorism-hit state. But within two months of the coalition assuming office on March 1, the omen has started exhibiting ominous signs. Though there is no danger to the Mufti Mohammed Sayeed-led government’s stability in the foreseeable future, the coalition partners ideological differences and the clash of interests of their respective regional strongholds of Valley and Jammu will not take long to become a source of worry for the ruling partners and also for New Delhi.
The seeds of worry have been sown by two developments: (1) controversy over allocation of the proposed All India Institute of Medical Sciences to Kashmir Valley; and, (2) Moderate Hurriyat Conference’s demand for making Islamic studies (Islamiyat) part of the school curriculum in private and Government-run educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. Both developments may cost the Sangh parivar and its affiliates politically. In particular, the image of the party chief Amit Shah, who played a pivotal role in the party’s decision to go in for an alliance with the PDP, may be hurt. Shah’s plans for his party taking a big leap in West Bengal’s next Assembly elections has already suffered a setback following the BJP’s decimation in the recently held West Bengal’s local body polls.
Commenting on his party forming government with the BJP, Sayeed had dubbed the alliance as the meeting of “North Pole and South Pole.” He was not wrong. The two parties have conflicting ideologies. While PDP favours greater autonomy for the Muslim-dominated Jammu and Kashmir, RSS (read BJP) considers the state as an integral part of a united “Hindustan whose residents are Hindus.”
Power makes strange bedfellows. For forming the Government, both parties decided to put into cold storage their basic stands on Article 370 and AFSPA. The BJP was pressing for abrogation of Article 370 as it considers abrogation necessary for battling the low-intensity insurgency in Kashmir. But the PDP wanted retention of Article 370 which gives special status to Jammu and Kashmir. It also pushed for greater autonomy than what is available under the current constitutional scheme.
The controversy over allocation of proposed AIIMS has led to a virtual confrontation between the Valley and the Jammu region. The people of Jammu, a BJP bastion, have claimed that as the region with more population than the Valley, lacks adequate medical infrastructure, deserved to be allocated AIIMS. Allocating it to the Valley was an act of indiscrimination against Jammu region. On the call of all parties including the Sangh Parivar offshoots besides various trade bodies, Jammu observed a complete bandh on April 24 to protest AIIMS’s allocation to Kashmir.
The issue has bared differences within the BJP. As against the united stand taken by the saffron party and the Hindutva bodies of Jammu, the party’s deputy chief minister Nirmal Singh said “there is no question of snatching AIIMS from Kashmir and giving it to Jammu. We can strive for AIIMS in Jammu as well”.
The compulsion of staying in power is likely to make the coalition partners strive hard to reach compromise on the raging controversies. The more important is the question how they handle the crucial security-related issues and bringing back into the national mainstream the large sections of Valley’s alienated population which, if one goes by the recent happenings, are acquiring wider proportions.
The security-related issues mainly relate to the separatist-militants changing their strategy to make the security forces as their prime target by avoiding killings of civilians. The Indian security forces have already demonstrated their capability to combat the separatist-terrorists onslaughts. It is to be seen what strategy the terrorists backed by the Pakistani Army’s elements now adopt in the wake of the Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s re-establishing his links with the recently re-arrested separatist Masarat Alam. Various groups of the split Hurriyat Conference had joined hands to welcome Masarat Alam after his release by the state government before his re-arrest under the under the Public Safety Act.
As you sow, so shall you reap. The saying is applicable to the BJP’s decision to saffronise education. Haryana’s Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP can claim the “bhagva honour” of being the first state to make teaching Hindus holy scripture Gita a compulsory subject for school students in the next academic session. In this column in early April it was stated that “India being a multi-cultural and multi-religion nation, its religious minorities can now also demand that teaching of their holy scriptures like Quran, Granth Sahib and Bible should be made compulsory in schools.”
The expected has happened. On April 29, moderate Hurriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq demanded making Islamic studies (Islamiyat) part of the school curriculum in private and Government-run educational institutions in Jammu and Kashmir. Hurriyat insiders say “the demand has been raised by Mirwaiz to counter the moves of the Hindu right-wing forces like RSS and other organizations to make teaching of Gita compulsory in schools”.
In the game of political attrition, mixing religion with politics and the state using religious agendas to achieve political objectives can prove disastrous for the integrity of a multi-cultural and multi-lingual country like India. The earlier the political parties stop using religion for their political ends, the better. (IPA)
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