Author: Bal Raj Madhok
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 20, 2002
When J&K acceded to India on
October 26, 1947, it had a total area of 84,471 sq miles. It got bifurcated
between India and Pakistan on January 1, 1949, when an unilateral ceasefire
ordered by Nehru left about 30,000 sq miles area of the state, including
the whole of Gilgit, Baltistan minus Kargil and Dras, and the Punjabi and
Pahari speaking belt along the Jhelum river, under the de facto control
of Pakistan.
This area did not include any part
of the Kashmiri-speaking Valley. It is therefore wrong to describe Pak-occupied
territory as ?Azad Kashmir?. Around 1959, China occupied about 15,000 sq
miles of the Ladakh region. As a result, J&K got trifurcated between
India, Pakistan and China, leaving only about 30,000 sq miles under Indian
control. It is unfortunate that this forced trifurcation of the state has
been forgotten. Part of the state that remained with India includes Jammu,
the homeland of the Dogras; Kashmir Valley, the homeland of the Kashmiris,
and a truncated Ladakh.
It is thus clear that the demand
for the reorganisation of the state on the basis of geography, the unalterable
ground reality and the principle of devolution of power to the people of
the three regions, goes back to the time of the accession of the state
to India. To hand over the administration of the whole state to Sheikh
Abdullah, who had no locus standi outside the Valley, was a grave blunder.
His demand for special status for the whole state was not acceptable to
the people of Jammu and Ladakh. This is why opposition to the incorporation
of temporary Article 370 in the Constitution began from day one. The refusal
of the Indian government to pay heed to this demand added to the distrust
of the people of Jammu and Ladakh of the Sheikh. The opposition of Farooq
Abdullah to the reorganisation of the state is a legacy from those times.
Due to over-representation given
to the Kashmir Valley in the assembly, Kashmiri Muslims have developed
a tendency to dominate Jammu and Ladakh. The process of Islamisation of
not only Kashmir but also Jammu and Ladakh has been going on apace. As
a result, Ladakh is on the verge of losing its Buddhist identity. The growing
grip of Kashmiri Muslims on the administration of Jammu is a major factor
in the extension of Islamic terrorism to Jammu. This has made the people
here desperate. They now want an administrational delink of Jammu from
Kashmir through the formation of separate Jammu state.
People of Jammu and Ladakh do not
want any kind of special status and more autonomy. But they would not oppose
special status for the Kashmir Valley within the framework of the Indian
constitution. Farooq Abdullah cannot be allowed to impose autonomy of his
conception on Jammu and Ladakh. Also, to describe reorganisation of the
state on the basis of geography and ground realities given above as trifurcation
of the state on communal lines is to betray a communal, anti-secular and
anti-national mindset.
The problem of resettling about
half a million Kashmiri Hindus who have been driven out from Kashmir during
the last 50 years is ticklish. The pundits cannot go back to their original
homes. Their demand for a well demarcated area in the southern part of
the Valley is reasonable. A high-powered commission must be set up to find
a workable solution of this problem.
