By TwoCircles.net news desk,
Jammu: A group of leading intellectuals, academicians and a former ambassador of the country have termed Puri formula as the only viable solution to the diffusion of the escalating regional tensions in Jammu and Kashmir state, the repercussions of which, they maintained, are tending to extend to the rest of the country. The real cause of immediate friction between the two regions is the mistrust between the two entities of the state, they stated.
The joint statement issued to the press today said, “We are deeply concerned over the widening regional divide in Jammu and Kashmir state, the repercussions of which are tending to extend to the rest of the country. We believe that the issue of transfer of government land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board and its subsequent revocation is only immediate, and not the basic, cause of the current turmoil in the state. It merely provided a flash point to the alienation of the people of Kashmir, which continues to exist and the accumulated discontent among the people of Jammu, mainly over the perceived lack of share in political power. The root cause of regional tension is the present over-centralized system of governance in as diverse a state as Jammu and Kashmir.”
Supporting the Puri formula for long term solution to the problem, the statement said, “We, therefore, support Mr. Balraj Puri’s formula for autonomy of regions within J&K for which he has been campaigning for the last sixty years. His formula provides for share of political power in a five-tier internal constitutional set up at the state, region, district, block and panchayat levels. We urge the Government of India, all political parties and leaders of the country as well as J&K to give a serious and urgent consideration to Mr. Puri’s formula as a basis of a dialogue to defuse the situation of the state before it explodes into a major catastrophe.”
The statement added that the entire political spectrum of the state has supported the formula. It said, “The State Peoples’ Convention convened by Sheikh Abdullah and attended by all the political parties of the Kashmir Valley also unanimously accepted it. Mr. Puri’s report as the head of the Regional Autonomy Committee (1999) elaborates on the constitutional, political and economic aspects of this formula. The formula has won support of the widest possible spectrum of the Indian political leadership. It got approval of Pandit Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah. Even the Jana Sangh founder-president Shyama Prasad Mukerjee endorsed the idea in his letter to Pandit Nehru in which he offered to support Delhi Agreement, guarantying autonomy to the state of J&K, provided regional autonomy was granted to Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir. Sarvodya leader Jayaprakash Narayan, leftist parties and socialist groups also have supported the proposal.”
Prominent names among those who signed the statement include the former ambassador S. D. Muni; former Vice Chancellor of Delhi University Upendra Baxi; former Rector of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Balveer Arora; Political Psychologist Ashis Nandy; Psephologist Yogendra Yadav; Prof. George Mathew, Director of Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi; Social activist Madhu Kishwar; Editor of The Milli Gazette Zafarul-Islam Khan; academic Sarah Joseph; Prof. Madhuri Sondhi; Prof. Ashutosh Kumar and media critic Ashok Ogra.