नमस्ते Respected Dr. Singh,
I do believe you need to intercede in addressing the issues that are tearing Kashmir apart. It has been and continues to be one of the major problems facing our country. Resolving the issues need the leadership and the stature that you and only you can provide. You would be acting as the Leader and a citizen of the country and not as a member of the UPA or Congress party.
Kashmir is akin to the Gulf of Mexico Oil spill magnified many times over. The Governor Bobby Jindal is a Republican, but the Democratic President Obama has taken an active role in attempting to resolve the issue.
Kashmir needs a hands on, seasoned approach that only you can provide as the Leader of our country. It is the Leader's problem. Our past leaders have "ignored" the problem by not taking an active role. You were the first PM to visit after a very long time. Unfortunately Dr. Abdullah tends to be a hot head and needless to say, the situation is over Omar's head. He needs your support, rather than the usual tamasha of undermining him so that your party can come to power.
The time is ripe to intercede. A simple question to ask the Separatist is what is it that they wish to achieve as an autonomous state/country and why can it not be achieved under the current situation. Their biggest issue is the blood shed that has occurred over the past thirty or so years. Ask them for solutions. Why is that they cannot be part of the solution under the current governance? It is as much their problem as ours. Even more so.
Mistakes have been made and we cannot change the past. What can be done is work towards a better future.
The Center transfers a significant amount of money to Jammu & Kashmir. This has to be made known and public. The duty of the Opposition is to be the watch dog to ensure the money is spent wisely.
The recent demand by the Opposition for your involvement is a good start. A good suggestion is to invite all the members to Dilli for a Round Table Conference. How to spin this is indeed a complex issue. Maybe polling the stake holders informally would give an indication whether they would come.
You have made numerous visits to the G20 summit. How can you ignore our own backyard which is burning?
I hope this message gets to you and you do something about it. I believe a peaceful resolution can be reached and it is your for the asking. It would be a legacy that you would leave us.
Regards,
The fundamental problem as I see it is the continuance of Article 370 of the Constitution whereunder inter alia, no non-Kashmiri can acquire any land or dwelling place in J & K. It is primarily because of this that J & K receives little or no investment from any non-Kashmiri !!!
ReplyDeleteAs a result J & K is creating no jobs for its young people for whom the only means to earn a livelihood is a govt. job, or opening a kirana or small services outlet or receiving handouts from either the Government or the Pakistani ISI and their client forces in the state with the attendant anti-national accoutrements.
Today Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka AP, Punjab etc are prosperous states creating invaluable jobs and wealth for their people because of the huge investment flows they are getting not just from within India but from all over the world.
Section 370 was enacted in the beginning to protect what was at that time a very fragile state from possible financial and cultural domination by the populations from the rest of the country. However these notions have been outdated for at least the last 40 years during which under the licence permit raj, the central govt had doled out huge incentives and lucrative licences to industry to go out to backward & non-industrialised areas of the country. With liberalisation started in 1991 & now the internet age these provisions are only a grotesque travesty of State Policy.
Unfortunately, with the vehement espousal of the plank of abrogation of Article 370 by the BJP, the issue has been given a rabidly communal (Hindu - Muslim) & political colour by the so called Secular parties ( Congress, Left, Mamta, DMK, etc ) and even by many in the NDA alliance, pandering to the enormous vested interests that have of course developed there - the Abdullahs, Muftis, Congress politicians from Kashmir ( I believe even the security forces who I understand recover substantial funds that the terrorists they kill are always carrying ) etc are as huge beneficiaries of the massive multiple handouts as are the Separatist leaders there.
In short J & K has a cancerous Economic system that will continue to breed all the problems it has been seeing, India will continue to bleed and the governments in Delhi will never do anything to disturb this "cosy setup" - make no mistake, they know what to do but politically cannot do it - at least not until somebody decides to bite the bullet on 370 which will open the doors to investment, productive jobs etc, wean away young people from the gun & give them hope in the future.
I can't see PM Manmohan Singh's government doing this !!!!
I also felt that Article 370 was a major issue. If that indeed is the case then how do you explain the BIMARU States (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan & UP)? Also the problem is in Kashmir, not Jammu. Furthermore, Kashmir and Jammu are not a Big Industry friendly environment. Just like West Bengal and Kerala for other reasons. Besides Tourism, Horticulture (Cherries, Apples, Plums, Pears etc.) and a struggling Handicrafts (Carpets, Silk, Wood & Stone work) sector, K&J has nothing much to offer by way of ROI.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is attitude, fueled by the axe that the majority Muslim population has to grind. It is also fueled by Pakistan and preferred by the Armed Forces for it means their budget is protected and most importantly the strong armed tactics used by the para-military forces have brought about a lot of bloodshed. They have had over thirty years of blood shed that would burn anyone.
There are parallels to be drawn between Kashmir and Iraq. Both have internal rife between feuding Muslim groups. There is an external factor involved. Iraq has the US in the crossfire and needs to withdraw. India has sovereign rights over Kashmir and has to deal with this for better or worse.
One possible solution is to split Muslim Majority Kashmir and Hindu Majority Jammu into two states. Let Kashmir be Muslim friendly and Jammu be Hindu friendly. Challenge both of them to treat the minority communities fairly. Setting up a competitive environment between the two would work for the better.
Article 370 is a red herring. If the current government does not step up to solve this, then there is no hope for a resolution in the foreseeable future.