Instead of mud-slinging on the issue of Article 370, the Governments in New Delhi and Srinagar must focus on inclusive development. That should take care of most of the problems that ail Jammu & Kashmir
A virtual storm which struck the national and international geo-political scene, following the statement of Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh for initiating a discussion on Article 370, seems to have settled down. But has it really restored the confidence of all the stakeholdersIJ Far from it, there are now underlying currents demanding autonomy in the valley and the abrogation of Article 370 in the Jammu and ladakh regions. However, the matter was unnecessarily raised at this stage. The remark was uncalled for given that the Modi Government is embarking on developing regional and international equations. Altering the status quo of Article 370 will vitiate the environment in the valley which may culminate into a mass movement involving a sizeable section of the population, constituting educated unemployed youth, who are aggressive and restive and can be easily misled by anti-national elements, making it a fertile ground for jihadis, not only in the valley but also in Jammu-Doda regions and elsewhere in the country.
Despite Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s much applauded visit on our Prime Minister’s swearing-in ceremony and mutual signals of bonhomie, terror group lashkar-e-Tayyeba, reinforced by the battle-hardened Taliban from Afghanistan and the Pakistani Army, will exploit the opportunity offered to them on the platter by misguided ideologues. We may come to a stage of proxy war with Pakistan, which would re-kindle the Kashmir issue in the United Nation’s Security Council, much to India’s discomfiture. The entire problem of Jammu & Kashmir has to be looked into in a holistic manner, with due regard to the international geo-political environment, the constitutional and legal validity of Article 370, in a spirit of reconciliation and cooperation.
Article 370 was created as a temporary provision in the Constitution to recognise the ‘special status’ of Jammu & Kashmir and restrict the power of Parliament to make laws for State which corresponds only to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession — defence, foreign affairs and communications. The President has the powers, by public notification, to declare this Article to be non-operative with the caveat that he can do so only on the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State. Had Maharaja Hari Singh not dithered to accede to India before Independence and harboured an ambition to be the ruler of an independent State of Jammu and Kashmir, we would not have come to such a situation.
Adding fuel to fire, the Indian Government at the behest of Jawaharlal Nehru took a stand before the Security Council that the present administration be transformed into a Council of Ministers under Sheikh Abdullah’s leadership. This council should then convene a National Assembly elected on proportional representation. This Assembly had to elect a new Government which had to hold a plebiscite under UN control. Sheikh Abdullah used his indispensability towards delivering on plebiscite to the hilt. He dictated his terms, so much so that the Government and the Constituent Assembly had to bow to his wishes.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee termed the arrangement under Article 370 as th ‘balkanisation of India’. He launched a massive satyagraha to get this pernicious provision removed. He went to Kashmir in 1953 and was arrested while crossing the border. He died on June 23, 1953. Since then the BJP has not changed its stance on this Article.
However, at the Opposition conclave in Srinagar in 1982, leaders of virtually all national parties, including past and present allies of the BJP, declared that the “special constitutional status of Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 should be preserved and protected in letter and spirit.” Azadi and autonomy are a part of political lexicon in Kashmir since independence and we should not get overly concerned by their usage. A review of its policy on Article 370 through an informed debate perhaps in the second tenure of the BJP Government would be an appropriate time and would align to the BJP’s agenda with the considered and reflective approach on Jammu & Kashmir articulated by Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Only then would the slogans of jhumuriyat, Kashmiriyat and insaniyat make real sense.
It is also worth analysing if successive Governments of Jammu & Kashmir have delivered what they have promised to their people in its Constitution. The two Articles which are highly relevant are Article 25 Part IV and Articles 1 & 2 Part VI. These Articles state that the “State shall combat ignorance, superstition, fanaticism, communalism, racialism, cultural backwardness and shall seek to foster brotherhood and equality among all communities under the aegis of a secular State... legislative Assembly shall consist of one hundred members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the State; divided in such a manner that the ratio between the population of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the State”, respectively.
May we ask what the State has done to rehabilitate the Kashmiri Pandits and assuage the aspirations of ladakhi BuddhistsIJ Why is there disproportionate allocation of seats and the share of Government jobs to the valley with utter disregard to the State’s ConstitutionIJ If these anomalies are not corrected the ethnic, regional and religious divide will accentuate and there will be demand for annulment of Article 370 from these regions of the State.
Financial health of the State in the present fiscal year is rather grim. Total annual income is only Rs6,500 crore from all sources, while the State has to pay Rs13,500 crore as salaries and Rs2,000 crore to pensioners and electricity bill to the tune of another Rs2,000 crore. “If there is a Government at the Centre which is unfriendly towards Jammu & Kashmir, the State would be in deep trouble”, said Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. To bring in fiscal resilience, the State has to raise substantial resources which it has the capacity to, and insist on accountability and transparency in organising its finances. Only then there can be true autonomy.
Despite such a largesse to the State, Srinagar spends the lowest amount on the social sector — schools, health, rural development — about 30 per cent of aggregate expenditure remaining constant for the past 30 years, which shows as to why the discontent amongst the masses. The ring side view of Kashmiri psyche is that the common people have no fascination for azadi or Article 370. What they really want is to be treated with honour and earn their bread with dignity.
All the subsidies and developmental grants from the Centre have not reached the common people and have lined the pockets of a large number of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats. Article 370 seems to have benefitted a few oligarchs at the cost of poor and downtrodden. They have ensured that no financial legislation is introduced in the State, which would make them accountable for their corruption.
Corporatising the governance and the development in Jammu & Kashmir with out of the box solutions rather than amending the Constitution is the only way forward. If the Union Government sees this as a national priority we shall be able to neutralise Article 370 during the first five years of Mr Narendra Modi’s rule. This will not only make it possible for Pandits to return to their homeland but also turn Kashmir into ‘Switzerland of India’.
(The writer is a retired Major General of the Indian Army)