Anil Anand
August 5, 2019 is touted as the watershed moment in the history of the erstwhile state of Jammu-Kashmir-Ladakh, leading to dilution of Article 370, demotion of the state and bifurcation into two Union Territories- Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh- by the perceivers of the idea. This idea was transformed into reality by a State Reorganizations Act flowing from the spirit of the very Article 370- has turned out to be nothing short of nightmarish. It is so for different reasons for people of both Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, six years down the line.
No move related to Jammu and Kashmir (the state ceded by former Maharaja Hari Singh to India) has ever been bereft of politics or political motive. The events since the 1948 cession of the state, will fully bear this out. No surprises, what happened on August 5, 2019 and the developments that have followed till date, should leave nothing to doubt that politics has once again run supreme.
The political drama, more so the electoral dynamics, has been at full play both in J & K, and Ladakh though with varying degrees and mechanism. The biggest difference between the two Union Territories (UTs) is that Ladakh is a UT without a Legislative Assembly while J & K has a lame duck Assembly with a dual power centre with scale obtrusively tilted against the democratically elected people’s representatives and favouring Lt Governor, the Centre’s representative.No doubt, that is the Constitutional scheme of things so designed.
Ever since the two UTs with distinctive difference, came into being, the people on two sides have been engaging into a struggle focused on their identity crisis and empowerment, personal as well as J &K, and Ladakh as entities. One striking difference in this struggle is that people of Ladakh, through their representatives, have been continuously engaged in dialogue by the Centre, for addressing their concerns- primarily due to direct action launched by the representative bodies of people of Leh and Kargil zones of the region- whereas this phenomenon has gone abegging in the other UT despite having an elected government and MLAs.
Although the Centre has not entertained Ladakh’s demand for a UT with elected assembly, but they did score a singular victory in the form of protection of their land and employment rights. It is another matter that the Centre (read BJP which had twice won the local Lok Sabha seat to lose it in 2024 under tremendous public pressure) is also not amenable to their main demand for bringing the Schedule Tribe dominated area under the ambit of Schedule VI of the Constitution that protects the rights of the Tribal communities.
Similar demand for political empowerment and protection of land and employment rights had initially reverberated in J &K as well. But it could not gather steam in the absence of public pressure, as is happening in Ladakh. The case was also weakened by the repeated victory, at least eight electoral victories from Panchayat to Lok Sabha polls, of BJP at the hustings in Jammu region. This, in turn, gave a handle to the ruling party at the Centre to portray it as vindication of their policies since August 5, 2019 and perceived satisfaction among people of Jammu. On the development scale too Jammu, despite apparent political preference, is far behind the other two regions.
What began with a clamour for abrogation of Article 370 as a politico-ideological plank, turned into decimation of the state handed over by the late Maharaja. Paradoxically, the movers of this plank for whom the Maharaja has suddenly become the focal of their politics in J &K, have neither any remorse nor shown any firm commitment on return to the statehood status.
It remains a historic fact that the Dogra dynasty (of which eminent political leader and scholar Dr Karan Singh is the scion) had successfully ruled, for over 200 years, a domain which was diverse in all respects and consisted of five varied regions. The post-1947 developments resulted in two of the regions ending up becoming the Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK).
The developments of August 5, 2019 led to further decimation of the erstwhile Maharaja’s state. Another region was taken out of it more for politico-electoral reasons than anything else and the Union Territory of Ladakh charted its own course. Doesn’t that weaken the case of those who still eulogized Maharaja Hari Singh? And why didn’t they eulogize him for having successfully ruled a diverse domain rather than exploiting his Hindu identity?
That brings one to the question being raised in certain quarters for further bifurcation of whatever is left of J &K. This question has a two-pronged motive- to create a separate state of Jammu and isolate the strategic and most important Kashmir region. This motive is guided more by political exigencies to further exploit the sentiments based on religion and regional-biases without having done anything to address this issue during the last decade or so.
Bifurcation and demotion of Jammu and Kashmir had in particular kindled a hope for people of Jammu that the changed political environment in the post-2014 era will address some of their concerns. These were based on regional discrimination and neglect of majority Hindu population of Jammu region who had backed BJP in its eight-electoral victories. Even before that the two Lok Sabha seats of Jammu region were won by them repeatedly after total decimation of Congress. But nothing has happened and things have remained the same, by and large.
The talk of creating a separate state or Union Territory of Jammu is only further weakening not only the cause of Jammu but Jammu and Kashmir. It will further disempower people of Jammu region who have not found a single voice, as compared to Ladakh, raising demand for immediate protection of their land and employment rights, leaving aside restoration of statehood which is a tall order under the circumstances.
There is a studied silence on the part of the 28 BJP MLAs as the party had swept across the Hindu dominated areas of Jammu region. The opposition parties, primarily Congress in Jammu region, are in a similar state barring an occasional press release demanding restoration of statehood.
It was a welcome move on the part of the Centre to have accepted demand for providing 85 per cent job reservation to the domiciles in Ladakh and some other measures to protect their rights and strengthen the administrative set up with sufficient representation of locals. The politico-social milieu of Jammu region did not wink even an eye demanding a similar protection for the region.
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