An illogically constituted State Assembly, with a manipulated absolute majority in favour of Kashmir Valley, has given rise to a system, which is abhorred by the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions as ‘Kashmiri Colonialism’
Vijay Kranti
In the unending chain of violence and upheavals in Kashmir Valley for the last 70 years, the ongoing of fire fighting under the NDA-PDP rule appears to be among the longest ones and, probably, the most consistent and resolute one. The campaign, which started much before the killing of Burhan Wani in July 2016, had its latest high point on August 1 in the gunning down of yet another high profile terrorist Abu Dujana, 123rd in the current series, and still counting, Dujana’s killing has marked elimination of a big chunk of top leadership of all major terror groups functioning on the Indian side of Kashmir.
Another aspect of this campaign is Centre’s new approach in treatment of Hurriyat and other separatist leaders. Since decades they had come to be known more for their kid glove treatment by the Central and State establishments than for their political contribution to their self-espouse cause of an independent Kashmir. Their ‘arrest’, ‘house arrest’ or ‘police custody’ used to be talked about more for the comforts, luxuries and state protection they enjoyed in their own spacious bungalows in Srinagar or luxurious government guest houses. But it is for the first time that a prominent section among them is cooling heels in the interrogation cells of National Investigative Agency (NIA) on criminal charges of terror funding and money laundering.
Kashmir Vs State of J&K
A lot of efforts have already been made and solutions to this problem have been already discussed and analysed in the past at hundreds of fora by thousands of experts and peace brokers. But one basic flaw, which has eclipsed this entire exercise and doomed it to fail persistently is treating it as a ‘Kashmir’ problem and not as a problem of the state of ‘Jammu & Kashmir’ which, besides Jammu, also includes Ladakh that occupies more than double the area of Kashmir valley and Jammu region put together. As a matter of fact, Kashmir valley occupies less than 12 per cent area of the Indian administered J&K today. Other serious failure of Kashmiri leaders is that all of their war cries and demands for ‘justice’ have been focused at Kashmir valley only.
Kashmiri-Colonialism
There have been numerous occasions when people of Jammu and Ladakh have jointly or separately fought protracted battles against what is popularly perceived in these two regions as “Kashmiri-colonialism” over the rest of Riyasat. A close scrutiny of Kashmir problem reveals that illogical distribution of political powers and control over the administrative and justice delivery system of the State in favour of Kashmir Valley has instilled a typical trait of ‘Kashmiri arrogance’ in the minds of Kashmiri leadership and even among the Valley population that has been gradually cleansed of non-Muslim communities over past many decades. Irrespective of whether they belong to National Conference, Congress, PDP or even separatists and terrorist groups, the Kashmiri leaders have been consistently working in tandem to grab and concentrate all State powers in the hands of Kashmiris.
A Handmaid Assembly
The process started when Pt. Nehru decided to hand over the powers of J&K in the hands of an unelected leader Sheikh Abdullah. Nehru’s first assignment to Sheikh was to constitute a State Assembly at his own will. On Nehru’s initiative Sheikh defined the contours of the State Assembly in 1950 and set aside 43 seats for Kashmir Valley out of total 100 seats. Jammu received 30 and Ladakh was given only 2 seats. He decided to leave remaining 25 seats vacant for those areas of the State, which Pakistan had forcibly occupied soon after its accession into India. This way Sheikh ensured that Kashmir enjoyed a permanent and absolute majority of 43 in a house of 75 functional seats.
Constitutional Hegemony?
The first demonstration of Sheikh’s commitment to democracy came soon in 1951 Assembly elections when his National Conference won all 75 seats. Nomination papers of all 13 candidates of Jammu Praja Parishad were ‘rejected’. The next delimitation of J&K was undertaken in 1988, which recomposed the Assembly with 111 seats out of which 24 were left vacant for POK and absolute majority of Kashmir Valley was maintained with 46 seats out of 87 functional seats. Jammu received 37 and 4 seats were divided between Leh and Kargil Districts of Ladakh.
In 2002, the J&K government, led by Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, passed a new law which barred any fresh delimitation of the Assembly until 2026. Its fine print says that the next delimitation can happen only on the basis of the following census, which is scheduled for 2031. It practically means that the J&K Assembly which has a six-year term as against 5 years in rest of India, can be elected on a new delimitation only in 2032 provided the report of 2031 census is released and delimitation exercise based on it is complete by then. Otherwise it will have to wait until 2038.
It is not out of place to mention that this 2002 delimitation law was implemented in the State following near total ethnic cleansing of Kashmir Valley of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 and local Sikhs in 2000. It may be a matter of pride for separatists and other Kashmiri leaders that 100% of elected MLAs from Kashmir Valley today are Muslims.
Victims of Kashmiri-Colonialism
This unbridled control over the State Assembly has led to many such results in the State which no civilised or democratic society can be proud of. In a recent memorandum to the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh the POK Peoples’ Forum, an umbrella group of various exiled communities of J&K presented cases of 9 such communities whose almost all fundamental rights have been ‘legally’ snatched in the present day J&K which have been guaranteed to each citizen of India by the Constitution. These rights include right to property; right to vote; right to employment; right to marriage by choice; right to higher education; right to be a member of Panchayat or a cooperative society or; even right to avail bank loans. Many of them who belong to Scheduled Castes or qualify as ‘minorities’ in this Muslim majority State, have been denied any such right which similar communities enjoy across India. They are even deprived of availing benefits of Central welfare schemes like Indira Awas Yojana or even right to repair the houses they have been living in since 1947.
The communities mentioned in this petition include refugees from POK who have been forced to live and settle outside J&K; Kashmiri Pandits and Sikhs who were forcibly pushed out of the Kashmir Valley; West Pakistan Refugees (WPR) who migrated to Jammu from adjoining areas of West Pakistan in the wake of communal massacres in 1947; Families who have been displaced due to regular firing along the LoC with Pakistan; Valmiki community members who were persuaded by Sheikh Abdullah to migrate from Punjab to J&K to undertake scavenging of night soil; descendents of Gorkha soldiers of Maharaja’s Army; women of J&K who decided to marry men from other States and; the people of Ladakh who have to live at the mercy of Kashmiri administration simply because the State has only two administrative Divisions namely Ladakh and Kashmir.
A Nazi State?
A strange rule that reminds one of Hitler’s Nazi Germany, obliges the State administration to brand the resident certificate of even 3rd and 4th generation youths of Valmiki families with a stamp that announces “eligible only for job of scavenger”. Similarly, the Farooq Abdullah led State government used its absolute Kashmiri majority to pass a law which opened doors for those Kashmiris who had migrated to Pakistan or POK during Partition in 1947, to return to J&K as its legitimate citizens and take charge of their ancestral properties.
Interestingly nearly 1.5 million such people who are POK refugees and their descendants have not only been kept out of this legal provision but the State government has also consistently refused to let them or their descendants settle in J&K as ‘State Subjects’. These communities have been demanding their right to those 24 seats in Assembly, which are left vacant in the name of POK. Ironically, the Muslim refugees from Xinjiang and Tibet who had migrated to Kashmir following occupation of their countries by China, have been granted the status of ‘State Subject’ along with voting rights in the Assembly by J&K Government.
Anti-Women Law
Yet another law passed by the J&K government, took away all legal and ancestral rights of those young women of the State who decide to marry a man from outside J&K. When this law was challenged in the Supreme Court of India by a local woman doctor who married a Bengali and became widow later, the State government restored her rights but barred her son from acquiring any part of her ancestral property or any other rights which are due to a ‘State Subject’.
No doubt the Kashmiri leadership has been, so far, successful in exploiting their artificial and brutal majority in the State Assembly to perpetuate their control over the State machinery. Also there is little doubt that this majority gives them enough leverage to impose their will over Jammu, Ladakh and rest of India in many matters. But the collective Kashmiri arrogance and bully mentality arising out of this position of advantage against fellow compatriots has also given rise to a strong resistance, rather hatred, against what the Jammuites and Ladakhis have come to perceive as “Kashmiri Colonialism”.
Jammu & Ladakh: Too Strong to Ignore
But Kashmiris cannot afford to forget the historic Amarnath movement of the people of Jammu against the Kashmiri rulers’ contempt for the formers’ religious sentiments. Ladakhis’ anger against Srinagar rulers too finally resulted into formation of Ladakh Hill Council. These events have proven beyond doubt that the sentiments against the ‘Kashmiri Colonialism’ can in no way be considered as weaker than anger of stone pelters of the Valley or nuisance value of the Hurriyat. The current trend of the top ranking Kashmiri terrorists running for their life and many self-styled Gods of Kashmiri separatism facing a long haul in the Indian jails should better help the Kashmiri political leaders to look for more sensible options in the game of dialogue and mutual accommodation with the current Modi dispensation at the Centre. This will not only bring back peace to the Kashmir Valley, but it will also rehabilitate the traditional spirit of multi-faith and multi-cultural ethos, which Kashmir stands for and the Kashmiris have lost due to failure of collective wisdom.
(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman, Centre for Himalayan Asia Studies and Engagement)
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