When in August 2019 Jammu and Kashmir state was divested of its special status under Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution and downgraded to UT from the status of a full fledged state, majority of people in J&K, while coping with the shock of the state having lost its 69 year old unique position in the union, felt somewhat reassured with the assurances from the Prime Minister and the Home Minister that statehood will be restored at an appropriate time in the near future. In view of these assurances made inside the parliament, most people in Jammu and Kashmir felt that it would probably be another one or two years till statehood is restored. But statehood remains elusive till date.
Most political parties in J&K are demanding statehood but no one seems to listen
All major political parties active in Jammu and Kashmir except BJP have been demanding restoration of statehood to restore the dignity and seriousness of politics in J&K which has taken a hit in the UT system where the elected government stands statutorily disempowered under the Re-organization Act of 2019. Quite justifiably, these political parties are not in a position to run their political activities full steam because of the disempowerment. Of late, the Congress party has been holding protests demanding statehood while others have been demanding through party resolutions and statements. The National Conference MPs, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have also been demanding restoration of statehood through their speeches inside the parliament.
But all this is making no impression on the ruling dispensation at the centre who it seems are looking at the demand purely through their party prism and political calculations. Since J&K is a political hot potato in rest of the country, the ruling party wants to keep it hot to garner support for their policies on J&K and probably does not want restoration of statehood to be seen as a reversal of its August 2019 action. That Jammu and Kashmir happens to be the only Muslim majority (state) in the Indian union is also not making any impression.
Non-restoration of statehood may be leading to increased alienation among the people in J&K
If a survey was to be conducted now to gauge the mood of the people in J&K, most will express their frustration with continued denial of statehood. The Concerned Citizens Group (CCG) led by former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, which visited Kashmir recently and interacted with sections of local population returned with the same impression. This alienation is not the same as used to be talked about in the nineties; this new type of alienation among large sections of the educated and politically conscious population is the result of perceived disempowerment of the elected government which appears to be cornered and unable to take big steps through policy intervention and action. In some ways the situation looks to be that of ‘a lost mandate’ as the elected dispensation feels jittery in the presence of a statutorily more empowered LG who is ceding almost nothing from what he thinks is his domain as per the Re-organization Act.
Administrative diarchy should worry the centre
It is well acknowledged by most J&K observers that administrative diarchy is not furthering the cause of democratic governance in J&K. The personnel management of the top administration comprising All India Service (AIS) officers is with the LG as per the Act while these officers are supposed to work in their portfolios under the control of the elected ministers. This kind of diarchy or dual control created by the Act is reportedly not working satisfactorily which is what has made even the CM to comment on the inefficacy of such an arrangement. This situation has been made more confusing by non-approval of the ‘business rules’ submitted to the LG by the elected government for approval. Surely, lack of ‘business rules’ must be resulting not only in delayed decision making due to confusion about delegation of powers but also in less than optimal delivery of democratic governance, both in quality and quantity. All this has implications for the implementation of myriad schemes of Government of India posited towards people’s welfare and Viksit Bharat. If one part of the whole is not doing well, the whole is automatically effected. The central government would certainly be wanting people of J&K to benefit from its schemes but if the delivery mechanisms are not properly wired, the intended benefits would obviously not percolate in full measure which should worry the centre.
To buttress the case for early restoration of statehood, National Conference (NC) will be well advised to spell out its plans for equitable development of Jammu region and honourable rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandit migrants who would want to return to Kashmir
Historically, BJP has always opposed the Kashmir centric political parties for advocating autonomy and special status. Apart from these disagreements, representation to Jammu in the political power structure in J&K has also been a political issue for BJP and consequently an election issue. Demand for restoration of legislative council (LC) along with statehood will also be well advised as LC has always stood in good stead to give representation in the ministry to those areas that have not elected representatives from the party in power.
Similarly, return and rehabilitation of Kashmiri pandit migrants is still work in progress for the BJP led government at the centre. Such an announcement of policy by NC (party in power presently) may facilitate the BJP led government politically to give its consent to the restoration of statehood.
Statehood will not impact adversely the security situation just because the elected government would be in charge
Ever since the onset of militancy in J&K in 1990, the central forces including the army have been part of the anti-militancy operations and along with J&K police are jointly responsible for the security and the security grid. The synergy between the central forces and J&K police has got institutionalized over the years and become a given thing, a major reason for successful operations against militants and anti-national forces. Just because CM, after statehood is restored, will become the ex-officio chairman of the unified headquarters (UHQ) where all wings of security forces operating in J&K are represented at the highest level, this synergy is not going to be impacted in any negative way. UHQ is essentially an oversight body, whereas the anti-militancy operations are coordinated in the field at the level of commanders. The mechanism of intelligence gathering, sharing and operations will remain the same even after taking over by the elected government post statehood. So, it is highly unlikely that the security situation will deteriorate after restoration of statehood.
In conclusion- Restoration of J&K’s statehood in full will be a win-win situation for all the stakeholders, the central government, the elected government in J&K, elected representatives in J&K ,and above all the people of J&K. The centre will also be able to claim credit for fulfilment of the assurances given in the parliament.
Â
Khurshid Ahmed Ganai is a retired IAS officer of erstwhile J&K cadre and a former Advisor to Governor, J&K.
Â