Jammu,Kashmir have jobs cut out

The regional division

The prevalent feeling in Jammu is that the Bill denies their youth a legitimate right to apply for jobs across the state. The BJP,aided by the Panthers Party,called for a bandh in Jammu on the day the Bill was passed. The Valley,on the other hand,feels let down. The very source of its grievance 8 per cent reservation for SCs in jobs,outside the recruitment ban remains unaddressed. The grouse in the Valley is that there are no SCs in its 10 districts and these jobs will continue to go to Jammu.

What do parties say

The ruling National Conference says the Bill is better than the previous recruitment law. Under SRO 343,dated October 13,2004,a candidate was free to apply for any district and divisional cadre posts. Rural Development Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar says the new Bill reserves 92 per cent of the seats in a district for the natives only. 

The Congress too supports the Bill. The Bill responds to the demands in Kashmir as well as in Jammu, says party spokesperson Muzaffar Parray.

The PDP says the Bill gives permanent right to the SC candidates from Jammu to jobs in the 10 districts of Kashmir. It will have a huge demographic fallout, says partys chief spokesman Naeem Akhter.

The BJP has termed it a subversion of the Constitution. It overturns the constitutional provision of reservation of jobs for the socially marginalised people, BJPs Chaman Lal Gupta said.

Separatist response

Moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has said that the Bill has the potential to further widen the gap between people from different regions. This Bill will benefit one set of people and hurt others. This can only breed further tension, Mirwaiz said in his weekly sermon at Srinagars Grand Mosque recently. He has also talked about discrimination towards Kashmir. Separatist outfit Jamaat-i-Islami has given a communal colour to the debate,saying that the Bill is a step towards disempowerment of the majority Muslim population in the state as it gives Hindus 8 per cent more share in government jobs. The Bill is anti-Muslim and will further dilute Muslim representation in government jobs. The government is using law to enforce a change in the demography of Kashmir, a Jamaat statement has said.

Likely repercussions

With Jammu- and Valley-based parties choosing to pursue a regional line on the issue and Jammu observing a bandh,the possibility of an Amarnath-like divide cant be ruled out. The anger in the Valley draws on a sweeping perception among people of not being proportionately represented in the administration. A perennial source of tension in the Valley is that fewer Muslims occupy top administrative posts with remote chances of any of the Muslim officers getting to become Chief Secretary in the foreseeable future.