How Rajiv Gandhi’s 1986 programme marginalized Jammu
Yesterday (July 16), I found in my very small archives a copy of the Jammu-based but Kashmir-centric English language daily, Kashmir Times, dated December 31, 1989. I found on its opinion page an article by former J&K DGP M M Khajuria. It was titled “Prime Minister’s largess”.
What did it suggest? It, among other things, suggested that PM Rajiv Gandhi, like his predecessors, pampered the already rather pampered, appeased, and overfed Kashmir and ignored the rather neglected Jammu province and the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh. Actually, M M Khajuria had reflected on the Prime Minister’s Special Assistance Programme, which was formulated after what could be rightly described as a disastrous Rajiv-Farooq accord of 1986.
Under the Prime Minister’s Special Assistance Programme, Kashmir got Rs.70.06 crores of the total of Rs.179.73 crores. This amount was to be spent on 10 of the 20 schemes earmarked for Kashmir. The schemes and money set apart for them were: Cable car (Rs.24 crores), golf course (Rs.5.17 crores), Dal development (Rs.5 crores), Indira Gandhi Road (Rs.11.07 crores), Agricultural University (Rs.9 crores), Angora goats (Rs.21 lakh), fur farming (Rs.15 lakhs), snow clearance equipment (Rs.1 crore), and Budshah Zero Bridge (Rs.16 crores).
Compared to Kashmir, Jammu got just Rs.15.50 crores, which was about eight percent of the total. The schemes on which this amount was to be spent were: Jammu Medical College (Rs.12 crores), Jammu University (Rs.2 crores) and Development of Patnitop (Rs.1.50 crores).
As for Leh district (then the only district in the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh), it got a paltry sum of Rs.27 lakhs.
Of the remaining Rs.93.03 crores, which was meant for the common development programmes of all three regions of the state – Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh – the Valley got the maximum. Rs.4.06 crores were spent to improve tourist facilities, and Rs.33.72 crores on medical facilities. Besides, several crores of rupees were spent to revamp the power distribution system in the Valley, as also to lay down transmission lines between Salal in Jammu province and Kashmir.
If, on the one hand, Rajiv Gandhi appeased Kashmir through huge funding, on the other, his government allowed pro-semi-independence Farooq Abdullah and his National Conference to rig the 1987 Assembly elections wholesale. Rigging that changed the whole course of history post-accession. Rigging that disturbed the socio-religious and political equilibrium in the highly heterogeneous region. Rigging that introduced the cult of terror in Kashmir. Rigging that led to the forced migration of the miniscule minority of Kashmiri Hindus, the original inhabitants, and their conversion into an over 99 percent Muslim region. It is a different story that former spy/ R&AW Special Director A S Dulat has given Farooq Abdullah a clean chit by quoting then J&K Director General of Police Francis T. R. Colaso (1986-87).
What did Colaso tell Dulat? According to Dulat, Colaso said: “He (Colaso) was absolutely clear that the whole issue of rigging was highly exaggerated. If at all, there had been rigging, he said, it occurred only in a few constituencies. For that, he held Kashmiri bureaucrats responsible” (Dulat, AS., The Chief Minister and The Spy, P. 8)
It is clear that Rajiv Gandhi followed a policy that was designed to keep in good humour the un-democratic, un-secular and un-Indian Farooq Abdullah and ilk in Kashmir and further render the people of Jammu province and Ladakh voiceless, unreal and ineffective.
It is inspiring that the Narendra Modi government, on August 5, 2019, liberated Ladakh from Kashmir, appreciating the woes, aspirations, compulsions, and needs of the Buddhists. But, sadly, his government didn’t liberate the enslaved Jammu. The result is that the people of Jammu province continue to suffer.
The nature of the plight of the people of Jammu province could be determined from the fact that the insensitive, intolerant and one community-centric Omar Abdullah-headed National Conference government didn’t withdraw that atrocious notification which had made Urdu language mandatory for the post of Naib Tehsildar despite the fact that Jammu province witnessed umpteen protests against the decision and the BJP MLAs met with the Chief Minister and held protest in front of the Civil Secretariat and Legislative Assembly against imposition of Urdu. It was the Central Administrative Tribunal that, on July 14, gave a ruling against the Omar Abdullah government’s decision. As expected, his government-controlled J&K Service Selection Board has not, to date, withdrawn that notification of discrimination; it only deferred the selection process on July 15.
PM Modi and HM Amit Shah would do well to review their reform scheme of August 5, 2019, taking into consideration the nature of the problem the people of Jammu province have been facing since 1947. They have to give them a definite political instrument invested with full legislative, executive, and financial powers – statehood. It is a must.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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