That is the old ‘cure’ for all ills
By Arjimand Hussain Talib
The idea is old and time tested. It has been put into practice throughout history. Be it the rulers of the erstwhile British Empire or the current techno-savvy managers of the virtual American Empire, the strategy of creating division to rule is very handy. After the annexation of J&K in 1947, when India’s establishment was confronted with the difficult situation of managing the monolithic political reality of this State, it is said that it was the RSS through “its sleeper men” in government and bureaucracy that gave that magic idea of breaking the Kashmiri political monolith.
Then it was largely an idea with brazen communal contours, revolving around the macro level regional and communal basis. Sixty years down the line, today the idea has trickled down to the mohalla and village levels! The three regions of J&K today stand divided for all practical purposes, except for an official map showing them so. The grand Kashmiri political monolith already stands defeated. Between and within the three regions – thanks to years of RSS and Congress Party’s planning and execution – and National Conference’s political machinations, divisions galore.
Jammu’s Dogras and Ladakhi Buddists are pitted against the Kashmiri-speaking lot. Muslim Paharis against Muslim Gujjars and Bakerwals. Sunni Muslims against Shia Muslims. Hindu Dogras against Hindu Rajputs. Hindu Jammu-Kathua against Muslim Rajouri-Poonch-Doda. Buddhist Leh district against Muslim Kargil district. Kashmiri-speaking Muslim residents of Doda-Baderwah-Rajouri-Poonch against Pahari-speaking Muslims of the same areas and so on. Within Kashmir another divide has been created: and that is between ‘well-developed’, ‘ever-complaining’ urban Srinagar and rest of the rural Kashmir. Although some of these divides may not be too visible, let us don’t shy away from confessing that they do exist though latently.
It is not forgotten that it was first the grand monolith of J&K’s political reality that was tattered into sub-regional and sub-ethnic pieces. And once flags of sub-regions and sub-ethnicities were hoisted across the State, the design was taken to the mohalla and village levels. The latest wave of divisions has started from the creation of new districts and tehsils. The agitations of the villages and towns that did not get district or tehsil headquarter status was heralding the re-drawing of newer battle lines in Kashmir. That agitation was followed by the ugly violence surrounding opening up of new colleges. Within no time people were at logger heads at village-levels.
The tragedy is that these are the kind of divisions which are deeply embossed in the minds of people. Even after two decades have passed since the district agitation in Shopian, the psychological wedge created between the people of Shopian and Pulwama is far from abridged. But why should such divisions happen?
If the ruling political class of the PDP and NC is trying to use such issues as red herrings then it is their monumental mistake. It is well known now that the new colleges that have been opened lately lack in even basic infrastructure and serve hardly any purpose. All teaching arrangements are ad hoc in nature and quality of education has suffered badly. This political class knows it very well that in today’s world churning out of people with college degrees in mediocrity in disregard to the market needs is an exercise in futility.
There is no doubt in that historically National Conference has on some occasions sought to protect the political monolith and secular character of Jammu & Kashmir by passing the Resettlement Bill and preventing the creation of LAHDC and other entities based on communal considerations. But it cannot absolve itself of the blame of creating many such divisions. PDP’s support to the Congress in creating LAHDC was its big historical folly. Though it seems to have realized the political perils of playing to New Delhi’s political galleries, it has a long way to go. There is no doubt in that the Congress Party’s policies in J&K are dictated by its pan-Indian political interests and that historically there is nothing to suggest that it has given primacy to the interests of J&K State. But when it comes to NC and PDP, they are to be held responsible for their actions which are further dividing J&K into bits and pieces.
When Mufti Muhammad Syed offered the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) to Ladakh on a spoon, soon after coming to power, PDP held that it did so for it believed an autonomous hill council was a lesser evil than a union territory status to Ladakh. But then there are many contradictions in that act. Congress Party’s election manifesto in the State promised a union territory status to Ladakh and it is impossible that Mufti could do it without Congress support. Talk to the Bhuddists of Ladakh today and they would tell you that LAHDC has been only a stepping stone towards their larger goal of carving Ladakh totally out of the State.
One mindset that has to be overcome now is the total reliance on the official census reports on demography of this State. It has to be borne in mind that whatever discourse happens on J&K with regard to demography is flawed because the census reports are fudged. The first step towards a rational political discourse on J&K would be to set things right in the census data. Census operations must be transparent and comprehensive and all its processes of compilation must be guided by realities and not biased political and communal choices. Keeping in view the flaws with the census reports, the reality remains that most of the recommendations of the special commissions like the Gajender Gadkar Commission and Wazir Commission lack logic and credibility.
Another problem in J&K is that de-centralisation and devolution have always been confused with administrative and political divisions. Keeping in view the geography and political division-induced isolation of areas in the State, real decentralization and local self governance can happen only when the Panchayati Raj is implemented and people are empowered at grassroots level to take care of their development issues.
There are ample examples to suggest that the reason the Panchayati Raj is not made functional in J&K is that its ruling political class is sure that once it is implemented they would be redundant and issue-less. Currently whatever political space J&K’s ruling political class is working on is basically a function of Panchayats.
Not many people are aware of the fact that the idea of division of J&K, which has trickled down from the provincial to mohalla and village levels is basically an RSS idea. In March 2001, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of the RSS at Delhi has already resolved to support the agitations in Jammu and Ladakh for separate statehood and union territory status. The RSS Resolution on J&K, passed at Kukukshetra on June 30, 2002, apart from expressing solidarity with all non-Muslim and non-Kashmiri speaking ethnic groups’ “struggles of assertion”, also states, “This resolution is the best way to abolish the divisive article 370, separate citizenship for State subjects, separate flag, and separate constitution for J&K. It is also the best way to stop lakhs of Pakistanis from settling in J&K through the Resettlement Act.”
RSS’ Uttar Kshetra Sangha, Jitender Veer Gupta’s blue print for the “or-organisation” of J&K is a must read for all political actors in J&K who are for upholding for the territorial unity and maintaining communal, regional and ethnic amity in this State. It may offer a moment of introspection to the PDP and the NC whether they are playing into the hands of the RSS and Congress in implementing that idea.
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The article first appeared in daily Greater Kashmir. (The columnist can be e-mailed at [email protected])