What
are the overall implictions of granting the
Homeland?
Morally,
it will be an acknowledgement of the inalienable
fights of Kashmiri minority Hindu community to its
own land in its own habitat, to grant them a
Homeland. In broader context it may be the only
lasting solution to the complex Kashmir embroglio
not only to grant a Homeland to the Hindus and
minorities of the valley but also to recognize the
sensitivities and propensities of other regional
and ethnic groups of the heterogenous State of
Jammu and Kashmir.
The
debate about granting of greater autonomy to the
State of Jammu and Kashmir has gathered momentum
since the rise of militancy in the valley. The
Muslim leaders of the State, of all shades of
political opinion, are working overtime and in
tandem with their many sympathizers in the rest of
the country to convince the Central Government
about the genuineness and correctness of this
step. They are aiming at exacting the maximum
concessions from the country when they talk of the
quantum of autonomy. There is also a flurry of
behind-the-scene activity at the Centre to
persuade the terrorist outfits to come forward for
a dialogue. Unfortunately, the real import and
meaning of granting greater autonomy to the State
is lost to the powers that be in the Central
Government, which is to surrender the State on a
platter to the Islamic fundamentalists and
terrorists as a price for retaining Jammu and
Kashmir on the map of India. It is one more step
towards strengthening the secessionist forces and
therefore towards the final severance of the State
from the Union of India. This step may buy
illusory peace to the rest of the country but it
certainly buys time for the terrorists to
consolidate and prepare for the final onslaught
for secession.
In
the meanwhile, the rights of other religious,
ethnic and geographical entities of the State are
being jeopardized and trampled upon, preparing the
ground for ferment in all patts of the State
involving all communities. The Jammuites have long
harboured-a feeling of rejection and deprivation
at the hands of Muslims of the valley who managed
to keep the reins of power in their hands since
1947. They have been deprived of their share of
power and development and neglected in all fronts.
There is an under-current of simmering dissent and
anger. Demands for autonomous Regional Council for
Jammu have been floated repeatedly. The Ladakhis
have also been fighting for a Union Territory
status to esape discrimination at the hands of
Muslim rulers of the State. Infact, the Central
Government had almost granted a Hill council for
Ladakhis but it was stalled at the last moment at
the intervention of a Muslim ex-MP from the
valley. However, the Central Government is
cornmitted to granting a Darjeeling type Hill
council for Ladakhis.
In
view of the foregoing arguments many senior
leaders of the State and some others at the Centre
hve proposed a trifurcation of the State of Jammu
and Kashmir to solve the tangle. However, a
trifurcation does not solve the problem of
displaced Kashmiri Pandits who are refugees in
Jammu and other towns of the country for the last
three years. They are guests at these places,
guests that have stayed rather long. They desire
to go back to the valley but are unwelcome there.
Infact they had to leave on pain of death and the
people of the valley in general and the terrorists
in particular have threatened to execute them if
they return to their homes. Therefore, granting
them a Homeland with a Union Territoty status
inside the valley is the only lasting and
permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. If a
Hill council can be granted to about 60,000
Ladakhi Budhists why not a Homeland for seven
hundred thousand Kashmiri Hindus ? Therefore, a
quadri-partition and not a trifurcation of the
State of Jammu and Kashmir is in order, to
accomodate the rights, the urges and aspirations
of all regions and all religious and ethnic
groups.
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