Beware: division can be a chain reaction

And a look at the political landscape of the twin districts of Ladakh breeds suspicion that there is a sinister design to re-enact the Buddhist-Muslim polarisation of the 1980s that brought the Ladakh Buddhist Association to the centre of Buddhist politics in Leh, culminating in the creation of Ladakh Area Hill Development Council — a body that literally enjoys self-rule within J&K state. In fact, in certain instances, the LAHDC chairman enjoys more power than the chief minister. For example, the CM has powers to sanction projects up to Rs 2 crore without cabinet approval; for the LAHDC chairman the limit is Rs 5 crore.

But recently LBA and its leader Nawang Rigzin Jora — who is minister for power and industries, the most powerful portfolio in Azad’s cabinet — have lost a substantial portion of their support base to the Ladakh Union Territory Front, a group that is seen to be more radical in its demand for total separation from J-K state. It is ironic that while the Central and state governments are fighting separatism in Kashmir Valley on the argument that a division based on religious lines has already failed and another partition is unacceptable, political activism advocating communal fragmentation of Ladakh is seen to be acceptable.

It is important to keep in focus the point that the current tensions come upon years of intermittent communal trouble, trouble that has resulted in a wide gulf between Muslims and Buddhists in Ladakhi civil society. And the fact that both communities see the ruling party in the state to be stoking trouble could have immense repurcussions.

The story of Jammu province might not be as explosive today but polarisation is very visible there as well. Earlier the demands for a separate Jammu state came from the Jammu Mukti Morcha and BJP, with their politics focussed exclusively on Hindu and Dogra pride. But for last three years, senior Congress leader and cabinet minister Mangat Ram Sharma has become the symbol of parochial stridency in Jammu, eclipsing both BJP and the Mukti Morcha. In fact, the Congress itself is sharply divided on religious lines within the state, a division highlighted recently when four ministers from Jammu resigned to pressure the J&K government to extend the Amarnath yatra by another month.

The issue of the Government Medical College, Srinagar — once an elite institution but now on the verge of de-recognition because more than 100 faculty positions remain unfilled — too has gathered regional/communal overtones. The two GMCs of the state, the other one being at Jammu, have joint seniority. Since 1990 many teachers from Jammu have refused to take assignments in Srinagar, attracting action from the Medical Council of India. Consequently there has been a demand to either force the Jammu-based teachers to join the Srinagar college or divide the seniority list of the two medical colleges to save this premier institution from derecognition. Sharma has opposed it tooth and nail.

In fact, the Congress has played a vital role in putting Jammu and Srinagar at logger-heads, by constantly raising the issue of discrimination with Jammu (read: Jammu city). And at a time when mainstream political parties like the National Conference, PDP and even the Kashmir chapter of the Congress seem to be apologetic while raising the issue of discrimination of Kashmir province or the Muslim-dominated areas in Ladakh and Jammu provinces, even the government’s own statistics and surveys are ignored. The reason is clear: the moment any mainstream political party raises the issue of the majority population of the state, it is denigrated as anti-national.

A survey conductd by the General Administration Department shows the Muslim representation in the state government is 2.8 per 100 persons while the Hindu representation is 4.8.

A cursory look at the economic growth as well as political empowerment of Jammu province makes it absolutely clear that Muslims living in Jammu province are hardly included in it. (According to the recent census, the Muslim population in Jammu province is 30.68 per cent, mostly in Doda, Rajouri, Poonch and part of Rajouri.) Official figures reveal that more than Rs 3,000 crore worth of industrial investment took place in Jammu during the past three years alone while investment totalling another Rs 2,000 crore is in the pipeline. However, industrialisation and economic growth in Jammu have also been limited to the Jammu-Kathua belt.

This sort of polarisation is inviting reaction from Doda, Rajouri and Poonch. The demand for a separate Chinab Development Hill Council in Doda and establishment of the Poonch-Rajouri Peoples Front can certainly be viewed as the beginnings of this fragmentation process.

If serious efforts are not made to stop this sort of communal fragmentation in the state, what chance would there be of negotiating a solution to the larger Kashmir problem?