SRINAGAR: With J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and more paramilitary troops being rushed to Kashmir, speculation has been rife that the Centre is about to make some major decisions on Jammu and Kashmir.
This has prompted Jammu-based parties to come forward demanding that Jammu be made a separate state.
Sinha met Shah and Home Secretary A K Bhalla in New Delhi for a security review meeting. Soon after the meeting, rumours have surfaced that the Centre is planning to give statehood to Jammu and may bifurcate Kashmir into two Union Territories.
Chairman of Ikkjut Jammu, advocate Akur Sharma told this newspaper that the Centre should give statehood to Jammu, alleging that the region has been discriminated against by the Valley-based leadership of J&K.
He said Kashmir should be further bifurcated into two UTs with one specially carved out for the Kashmiri Pandits, who migrated en-masse from the Valley after eruption of militancy in 1990.
Chairman of Duggar Saddar Sabha Gurchain Singh Charak said if the Centre feels Jammu should be granted statehood to improve the situation in the Valley, then they would welcome it.
“Jammu is a peaceful region and has rejected militancy. The centre should separate it from Kashmir and grant it statehood.”