Jammu outfits renew demand for separate statehood

JAMMU: Nearly four years after stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and splitting it up into two Union territories, voices are being raised again in the Jammu region of what is since known as the Union Territory of J&K to make it a separate state.

Such or similar entreaties being held up in some other parts of the country as well may be largely based on culture, language, ethnicity and religion. But in Jammu its proponents say they want to get rid of the “political dominance” of the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley, the other region of the Union Territory of J&K, forever and strive for peace and prosperity as a separate state. They insist their demand is neither ethically wrong nor constitutionally invalid.

Chaudhary Lal Singh, a former minister and Dogra Swabhiman Sangathan Party (DSSP) leader, said, “The Narendra Modi government is committed to restore J&K’s statehood, but it would be in the interest of the country and the people of Jammu region to make it a separate state.”

Singh, who while speaking at a series of public gatherings recently sought Jammuites support towards meeting the demand, asserted, “If the Centre agrees to the creation of a separate state of Jammu it would be befitting reply to the anti-national forces and many enemies within and outside of the country”.

Elaborating, he said, “There will be peace in all the ten districts of Jammu region and those who are trying to sabotage and derail the peace, shall be totally wiped out. Further, it will open new vistas of development and restore the democratic process which, otherwise is a distant dream for no fault of the people of Jammu”.

The DSSP leader was clearly referring to the Centre’s being disinclined to hold the Assembly election in J&K even after the completion of delimitation exercise. The last elections to J&K Assembly were held in 2014 in which People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won maximum number of seats, leading to their forming a coalition government in the erstwhile state. However, this government collapsed in June 2018 after the BJP walked out of the alliance, forcing chief minister Mehbooba Mufti to quit. J&K was brought under the Governor’s rule and soon the then J&K Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Assembly to frustrate the attempts of PDP and National Conference (NC) and their allies to form a new government. On August 5, 2019, the Centre abrogated Article 370, stripping J&K of its special status, and split the state into two Union Territories. The opposition parties allege that the BJP is avoiding Assembly elections in J&K for fear of losing these.

Another Jammu-based political outfit which had been demanding separate statehood for the region is Jammu State Morcha (JSM). However, the 15-year-old outfit had announced its merger with the BJP ahead of the last Assembly elections in J&K. Some of its leaders claim the outfit continues to maintain its independence but on ground JSM is not found to be any active. Singh said, “They very people who had floated the Morcha went silent on the issue of separate statehood. Apparently, they have forgotten their commitment to the people of Jammu.”

But another outfit IkkJutt Jammu appears to be adamant on its demand for the creation of a separate Jammu state out of the Dogri speaking districts of the region and for the reorganisation of the Kashmir Valley into two union territories, one being ‘Panun Kashmir’- a separate homeland for its Brahmin Hindu population or Kashmiri Pandits – and the other for the rest of the population of the predominantly Muslim Valley.

Its leader Ankur Sharma believes that such an arrangement will put an end to “Muslim separatism” and the “Jihadi war” and solve the so-called problem of Kashmir forever besides leading to J&K’s “actual” integration with the rest of the country.

However, Rattan Lal Gupta, provincial president of the NC, strongly believes in diversity for which J&K as a single unit is known to the world. He asserted, “J&K has always been an epitome of secularism, but today certain divisive forces are making every possible effort to destroy the same to fulfil their personal motives”. Reiterating his party’s demand for the restoration of J&K’s statehood, he said that as far as the Jammu region, the NC is committed to fulfilling the responsibilities of popular and elected leaders and making Jammu a better place for all”. He added, “The NC's goal is to make Jammu a true model for the rest of the country to follow.”

Tassaduq Hussain, an activist from the Rajouri district of Jammu region, said that the demand for a separate statehood may suit some political outfits and other vested interests of a few Dogri speaking districts of the Jammu heartland but it will never be acceptable to vast majority of the people living in Poonch-Rajouri belt and the Chenab valley -two predominantly Muslim subregions of Jammu.