In J&K, why plan to merge Poonch, Rajouri with Anantnag for LS seat has triggered row

Gujjars and Bakerwal, who number nearly 5 lakhs, form the largest ethnic group among the total 11.19 lakh population of Poonch and Rajouri – which are at present part of the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency. They are estimated to constitute 19 per cent of the total over 26.20 lakh population in the proposed new constituency. In fact, of the 18 Assembly constituencies in the new Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, six are proposed to be reserved for STs comprising mainly Gujjars and Bakerwals.

“The merging of Pir Panjal (Poonch and Rajouri) with Kashmir is an attempt to dilute the ethnic Kashmiri identity. They (BJP) have a problem with the Sunni Muslim character of Kashmir, and this is an attempt to dis-empower them politically,” said senior PDP leader and former minister Naeem Akhtar.

National Conference Spokesperson Imar Nabi said his party failed to understand the logic behind this merger given the “huge geographical distance” between Anantnag and the Pir Panjal region in Jammu. In fact, Shopian – the last inhabited town of south Kashmir on the Mughal roads that connects Kashmir with Pir Panjal – is over 100 kilometers away from Thanamandi, the last inhabited town of Poonch-Rajouri region.

“We know Kashmir is inaccessible to Rajouri and Poonch for over five months every year. The road is closed because of snow… There is no rationale to divide Jammu and to divide Kashmir. The (Delimitation) Commission itself talks of accessibility. It seems they want to create chaos and confusion. This is an attempt to delegitimise the political process,” said Communist leader M Y Tarigami.

In what could further thin the number of Kashmiri voters in the Anantnag constituency, the second draft also proposes to remove Pulwama district and parts of Shopian district from the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency – these two are proposed to be merged with the Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency.

In another major change, the Commission has decided to remove some parts of Budgam district – predominantly Shia areas – from the Srinagar parliamentary constituency and merge these with the Baramulla parliamentary constituency. “This also belies logic. I don’t think any political party or person had asked for such changes,” said Imran Nabi of the National Conference.

PDP’s Akhtar, however, saw this to be in consonance with the BJP’s plan to “dis-empower” ethnic Sunni Muslims. “This again is an attempt to dis-empower the Sunni Muslim majority of Kashmir. By merging these areas with Baramulla, they are trying to consolidate the Shia vote,” he pointed out.

The consolidation of Shia vote in Baramulla is likely to benefit prominent Shia political leader Imran Raza Ansari, a senior leader of Sajad Gani Lone-led People’s Conference. The People’s Conference is also set to benefit from the lone additional Assembly seat carved out in the Kashmir Division. The draft proposals suggest carving out of Trehgam constituency in Kupwara, a stronghold of Lone, a former ally of BJP.

While a single seat has been added to the Valley’s tally of Assembly seats, the draft proposal has recommended six additional seats for the Jammu region – one each in Samba, Kathua, Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar and Rajouri. The new seats are again likely to benefit the BJP in the Jammu region, giving political voice to the Muslim Gujjar and Bakerwal community, which is the third largest ethnic group after Kashmiris and Dogras in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Journalist and political analyst Zafar Chowdhary, however, said the proposed new constituency – the first trans-Pir Panjal political entity in the modern state of Jammu and Kashmir – will provide opportunities of interaction between the people of both the divisions. Moreover, both Poonch and Rajouri have been the only districts with competitive politics – having never entirely supported any political party, be it the BJP, NC, PDP, or Congress.

The inclusion of Poonch and Rajouri districts in Anantnag, apart from regrouping the otherwise scattered population of nomadic tribes under one Lok Sabha constituency will also bring a large number Hindus and Sikhs to its electoral rolls, thus restoring heterogeneity to the Kashmir society after the migration of Kashmiri Pandits in early 1990s, said Shafiq Mir, Chairman of the Buffliaz Block Development Council in Poonch district bordering Shopian in Kashmir.