Srinagar, Jan 20: Amid demands for a separate Jammu state and counter-calls for dividing Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti on Monday called for the creation of a separate division for the five districts of the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal areas of Jammu province.
The BJP slammed the proposal as a dangerous “ISI-scripted” move, while National Conference president Farooq Abdullah termed it a “Dixon Plan”.
Addressing the party’s public interaction programme in Rajouri, Mehbooba said there was a pressing need to grant divisional status to the Pir Panjal range comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts, and the Chenab Valley comprising Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar districts in the Jammu region.
At present, there are two divisions in J&K, Kashmir and Jammu, with 10 districts each.
Mehbooba said the demand was “absolutely genuine” given the difficult terrain, fragile environment, far-flung habitations and lack of adequate access to basic services in both regions.
“Pir Panjal and Chenab Valley face serious administrative neglect. Their topography, vulnerability to environmental hazards, and distance from decision-making centres make divisional status the need of the hour,” the PDP president said, adding that governance must reach people at their doorstep, especially in border and mountainous areas.
“Instead of running to Srinagar and Jammu for everything, people should be empowered and governance should reach their doorstep.”
The PDP chief also called for the creation of additional districts in Pir Panjal and the Chenab Valley to improve administrative outreach. “It is difficult for just two Deputy Commissioners of Rajouri and Poonch to manage a vast region like Pir Panjal,” she said.
Mehbooba’s proposal comes after demands by some BJP leaders for a separate Jammu state and counter-calls from Valley-based politicians for the separation of the Valley from Jammu.
BJP spokesperson Altaf Thakur termed Mehbooba’s demand to grant divisional status to five districts in the Jammu region as a “deeply conspiratorial, divisive and anti-national agenda that mirrors the long-standing strategy of Pakistan’s ISI”.
“She is repeating the language of Pakistan and its ISI, which has always dreamt of creating ‘Greater Kashmir’ by gradually absorbing Jammu’s Muslim-majority belts into Kashmir. This is a dangerous experiment on India’s sovereignty,” he said.
Another BJP leader, Dr Abhijit Jasrotia, alleged that the PDP chief was attempting to revive an old and dangerous agenda of fragmenting the Jammu region while projecting Kashmir as a homogeneous entity, allegedly to serve “interests across the border”.
The ruling National Conference also rejected Mehbooba’s suggestion for a separate division for the Chenab and Pir Panjal regions.
“It is a Dixon Plan. The Dixon Plan is an old proposal which envisaged division on the basis of the Chenab river, creating a Greater Kashmir on one side of the river and separating this part,” Abdullah said while reacting to Mehbooba’s suggestion.
He asserted that no more districts would be established in J&K. “There are many districts and if we take care of those, it will be a big thing.”
Abdullah also ruled out any further division of J&K, saying that even people in Ladakh are now calling for reunification with J&K as they say Union Territory status is not acceptable to them.
He said J&K comprises Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, and added that “one day Ladakh will return to J&K”.