Jammu And Kashmir: At Crossroads!
By Ram Puniyani
21 August,
2008
Countercurrents.org
In the aftermath of the Amarnath shrine board land transfer and then reversal of the same, the matters in the state are going from bad to worse. One was witnessing a gradual decline in acts of terror and increase in the democratic space, democratic patterns, despite the heavy presence of the army in the state. With the Shrine board issue being used by the separatist elements and communal elements, the things seem to be heading in the direction which will have far reaching adverse impact on the politics of the region.
There are
many a things which the separatist elements exaggerated and took extreme
position. Their march to Muzzafarabad, slogan of Azadi got response
mainly due to two reasons. The first and the foremost was the perception
in the valley that if already the Amarnath yatra is going so well
what is the need to transfer the land to the shrine board? For the
people of Kashmir Amarnath yatra is one of the significant sources
of income and is part of the culture of Kashmir, and has so far never
been seen in the communal light. The move of the Governor, Sinha,
a covert BJP sympathizer, to Hinduise the yatra was a big blow to
the traditions of the valley. The illegal land transfer, nowhere is
the forest land transferred for any other purpose. In all cases of
melas etc. the land is temporarily used without transfer. Here the
complicated story is that the Governor and his Principal Secretary,
who was CEO of shrine, maneuvered this illegal move with the help
of the
forest official in charge, who happened to be his. The state Government’s
refusal to follow the illegal decision of the board and forest department
was stalled by the courts and the seeds of a discord were sown.
One is reminded of the Babri Masjid dispute, where the idols were illegally installed in 1949, the local collector, a RSS sympathizer stalled the removal of the idols sowing the seeds of the problem which finally led to demolition of Babri mosque and giving the flesh and blood and political power to the BJP over a period of time. In valley the Israel Foreign minister Shimon Perez’s advice to Advani for changing the demographic profile of the valley is well known. Also the people in the valley have been suffering either the militancy or the rights violation by the army so their sentiments are on the burning point, needing one separatist group to ignite the issue. A sorry state of affairs! Nothing can match the suffering of the people of Kashmir, which had a potential for improvement but things are going haywire now.
Second
was the suffering in the valley due to the blockade by the protesters
in the Jammu region. This is being denied vehemently by the BJP, which
is at the core of the Jammu agitation. The truth is that this agitation
did frighten the truck drivers, excesses were committed on the truck
drivers, frightening experience for them on the way, coupled with
effective blockade of trucks. This led to intense and immediate reaction
in the valley. As this was the main artery connecting the valley with
country they were deprived of essentials, more so life saving and
other medicines, and routine supplies. Secondly the backbone of economy,
the export of fruits suffered leading to depression in the already
emaciated economy. In this backdrop the march to Muzzafrabad, capital
of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, appealed to the people.
The tale of Jammu has the other elements tragedy. In this predominantly
Hindu majority area, there are many grievances, the major one being
around the step-motherly treatment to this region by the J&K administration.
Always in the policy planning Jammu gets a backseat and Kashmir valley
the first priority. Also the emigration of pundits from valley has
been misrepresented and complex issue of ethno-regional-Pakistan intervention
issue has been presented as a communal one. The emigration of Pundits,
a tragic story has been used by the RSS combine to the hilt to create
a communal atmosphere. In this scenario the discontent in the valley
due to reversal of land transfer came in as triggering factor and
all the dam of discontent burst. This in turn affected the lives of
people in the valley. While it seems that the Jammu agitation cuts
across the political lines, surely it is the BJP associates who are
in the driver’s seat and others have meekly
surrendered to this agitation.
Advani’s attempt to present valley people as anti national and those of Jammu as National is fraught with dangers. While the central government is playing its old role of silent spectator, helplessly watching separatists and communalists stoke the fires on both the sides. This is akin to its role in opening the gates of Babri Mosque and playing fiddle when the Mosque was being demolished by RSS and company. There are many other analogies, a sense of déjà vu with the Babri issue are there. In case of Babri, BJP’s interest was in demolishing the mosque, while it was presented as the one for building Ram Temple. It did demolish it, came to power but Ram temple was nowhere to be seen. In case of Amarnath Yatra also it is not interested in the yatra itself but in issues which can ignite communal passions and help it come to power, and that’s what its agenda is.
One of the logics given for land transfer was the increase in the number of pilgrims, due to which more facilities and space is needed. The point is, more number of pilgrims is a threat to ecological balance and the Amarnath cave cannot take more pilgrims as that is causing the warming and melting of Shiv ling, the Phallus like structure, revered by the pilgrims. In other such places like Gangotri and Gomukh, because of similar reasons, BJP has been demanding a restriction in the number of pilgrims to protect the holy place and environment. So why these double standards? The answer is too easy to guess, and BJP, a shrewd party realizes that it is not religiosity which is important but its political encashment what matters.
All in all Jammu and Kashmir has been treated by the neighboring countries, Pakistan and India as a beautiful woman, whom both want to own, irrespective of what she wishes! The so called patriots are treating the Kashmir issue as a real estate issue, the life of the people does not figure in the calculation of the powers involved in the dispute.
Today many
ideologues are arguing that Azadi is the solution, some of them are
arguing that economically people of state stand to benefit if the
old trade routes to Pakistan are normalized. In this charged up atmosphere,
in this strategically located area, is it not overdue that the wishes
of regions, dialogue between all concerned parties are the guiding
factor rather than the legalistic and ‘blind nationalist’
approaches? J&K did legally accede to India, but at the same time
one has to realize that right form the beginning the autonomy which
was promised in the treaty of accession, was never honored and the
clauses of the treaty were violated with impunity. The US designs
to have a presence in the region through the proxy of Pakistan, in
a region surrounded by Communist (Russia, China) and socialist (as
India was supposed to be), were well planned. After the US sponsored
Al Qaeda completed its assignment of defeating Russian armies in Afghanistan,
the same indoctrinated Al Qaeda elements did enter J&K to communalize
a regional ethnic issue. We need to overcome the Hindu-Muslim approach
and look at all the concerned issues in an objective dispassionate
manner. Hope all these complexities and grievances of the people of
Jammu, the people of Kashmir valley form the basis of peaceful and
just solution to the present turmoil in the state.
