The Government of India’s (GoI) Kashmir interlocutor, Dineshwar Sharma, who is on a five-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, will meet different political parties. But the former Intelligence Bureau (IB) chief will be following an oft-used roadmap on Kashmir: listening to divergent political opinion that ranges from seeking autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir to ending the discrimination against the people of Hindu-majority regions of Jammu.
Sharma started his visit on a day when the Jammu city witnessed a shutdown on the occasion of opening of Darbar Move offices in Jammu—successive governments have followed an autocratic practice of keeping the government offices functional in Srinagar and Jammu for six months-against what the political parties and civil society groups asserted was the discrimination with the region. Markets remained shut and vehicles were mostly off the roads as chief minister Mehbooba Mufti took the ceremonial guard of honour at the Civil Secretariat which opened in Jammu.
The Kashmir interlocutor will meet different political parties and civil society groups in Srinagar for three days and in Jammu for two days. Sharma’s appointment came after the 2016 uprising in Kashmir following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, in which over 72 people were killed. However, he is not off the beaten track and is meeting the “all who are willing to.’’
File image of Dineshwar Sharma. Image courtesy: Twitter/@AIR
While chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, has welcomed the appointment of Sharma, the Opposition NC, Congress and separatists have termed it a futile exercise. Former chief minister and NC president Farooq Abdullah has reiterated that greater autonomy is the only solution to the Kashmir problem. But on the first day of the visit of the central representative, the message was clear. Despite the PDP-BJP government forming a coalition to ensure that there was no discrimination against any of the three regions of the state—Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakah—the chasm has only widened. Former BJP leader and convenor of Jammu for India, Professor Hari Om, said that the Jammu region has faced discrimination in this government as well. “Though the Jammu region is larger in area than Kashmir, the number of seats in Assembly is less. The PDP-BJP government promised in the Agenda of Alliance (AoA) that they will go for delimitation, but for that, a constitutional amendment is required, which the government is not interested in,’’ he said. “ Even in the state cabinet, the chief minister is from Kashmir and the important portfolios have been cornered by the PDP which has stakes in Kashmir.’’
In the AoA which was unveiled after former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took office in 2015, it was promised that a “ delimitation commission will be constituted to delimit the Legislative Assembly constituencies as per the law.’’ However there has been no headway over it. BJP chief spokesman, Sunil Sethi, however said that those parties which are raising the issue of delay in the constitution of delimitation commission are only playing politics. The Jammu and Kashmir state has 111 Assembly seats. Out of these, 24 are reserved for the part of Kashmir which is administered by Pakistan and remain vacant. Of the 87 other seats, Kashmir Valley has 46 seats, Jammu 37 and Ladakh 4 seats.
The promise in the AoA came even as the Jammu and Kashmir government has amended its own Constitution to freeze the delimitation of assembly constituencies till 2026. The Jammu-based Panthers Party had earlier moved the Supreme Court seeking that the “freeze’’ on the delimitation of Assembly constituencies be lifted as it violated the rights of the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) population, for whom no seats have been reserved in Kashmir. The Supreme Court had however dismissed the Panthers Party plea stating that “it was not justifiable.’’ On the accusation that the PDP-BJP government has not done anything to set up a delimitation commission, Sethi said that the work was going on over this political promise which has been made to the people.
During his meetings with the political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, the central interlocutor will be apprised about the regional discrimination, besides the violation of human rights by the government forces in Kashmir during the anti-militancy protests as well as the demand to deport the Rohingya Muslims from Jammu region.
MLA and chairman of People’s Democratic Front (PDF) Hakeem Yaseen said that he has been invited by the central interlocutor for dialogue on Kashmir. “Kashmir is a political issue and requires to be settled using a political approach. But those who are raising the issue that the Jammu region has faced neglect are ignoring the reality. During the turmoil in Kashmir, most of the funds were diverted to Jammu and the Kashmir region has lacked in development,’’ he said. Yaseen said that unlike Jammu, the healthcare system in Kashmir was in shambles, several areas lack roads, and people are now facing severe power cuts.
Sethi said that the BJP leaders will meet Sharma both in Srinagar and Jammu. “As regards the issue raised by some political parties in Jammu that a holiday be declared on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh, we support that. We support the people of the Jammu region and will meet the central interlocutor in both Jammu and Srinagar and put forth our point of view.’’
Congress state vice-president, GN Monga, said that party will hold a meeting of its office-bearers to take a decision about the meeting with Dineshwar Sharma and the issues that will be raised with him. But on Monday the Congress party leaders protested in Jammu on the opening of Darbar Move offices against the “failure” of the PDP-BJP government on the governance front.
Published Date: Nov 06, 2017 05:07 pm | Updated Date: Nov 06, 2017 06:12 pm
