Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is the only Muslim majority state in India. And as Morarji Desai told Zia-ul-Haq, if J&K feels alienated or is separated from India it would be read as a rejection of all Hindus by Muslims and this would hit at the very fundamentals of our secularism. Every Indian must appreciate that if India is to be secular then the people of J&K have not only to be politically part of India, but they must also psychologically feel as Indian as any other citizen.
The first truly free and fair election to the J&K Assembly was held when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. Every Kashmiri acknowledged the election was fair. There was a befitting answer to the rise of militancy and violent separatism, which was accelerated by the fact that the Kashmiris felt India would never give them a fair deal or a sense of participative democracy because elections would be manipulated. The present government, by holding impartial elections, has been able to restore the faith of Kashmiris in the democratic process, evidence of which is provided by the large turnout in defiance of the boycott calls given by separatists and the violent disruptive attempts by militants. This is actually a rejection of the separatists and if the momentum is sustained, the separatists will become irrelevant and Pakistan will have about a snowball’s chance in hell of making Kashmir break away from India. This is a very positive development.
For a democracy to function, it has to ensure every citizen feels that he is a participant in the government and that the government will function for the benefit of the people. The people of Kashmir also have this right because it is through the democratic process that they will be able to determine how they will be governed. There is nothing surprising in this because that is what every Indian in every state desires. This also gives us a golden chance of weaning away the extremist groups from a desire to break away from India by convincing them that they are an integral part of this country with all the rights of an Indian citizen, including the right to cock a snook at the government. The test of whether this is the direction in which we are moving is the formation of the new government in J&K.
The state actually has three major regions, the Kashmir Valley which is largely Muslim, Jammu that is largely Hindu and Ladakh, largely Buddhist. Together they form the totality of the state and are a part of the Indian whole. In the recent election the people of Jammu have mainly voted for the BJP and that of the Kashmir Valley for the PDP, which has emerged as the largest single party. The Press refers to this as a fractured mandate whereas it is actually a very clear-cut mandate. As the largest single party, the PDP knows the people of the Valley have reposed confidence in it. In Jammu, as the largest single party and the second largest in the state, the BJP has been chosen by the people to participate in the government. The natural fallout of the elections should be the PDP becoming the lead party in a coalition in which the BJP participates. Power sharing can be worked out, but by this arrangement all the three regions would get representation in the government, which itself would then try and fulfil the aspirations of the people.
There are other permutations and combinations that have been spoken of, such as an alliance between the BJP as the lead party and the National Conference as a junior partner. There is even some loose talk of the BJP and its allies, who would command about 30 seats in a House with 87 members, staking a claim to form the government. Thereafter, if it does not survive a vote of confidence, President’s rule could be proclaimed. This would be a disastrous decision because the people of Kashmir would revert to militancy if they are deprived of the right to govern themselves. A bout of President’s rule at this stage would destroy any harmony between the nation at large and the people of the Valley and we would lose Kashmir forever. It should be totally prohibited for us to even think along these lines. The National Conference and the Congress in J&K are lost in a quagmire created by bad government and corruption. The BJP must steer clear of both parties because therein lies its true vocation and salvation. It should in fact try and form a coalition with the PDP because the people of Kashmir have clearly indicated that they want Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as chief minister. The BJP should very graciously accept the leadership of the PDP whilst having a strong representation in the cabinet. Thereafter, the coalition must forget all distinctions between the three regions and must provide an evenhanded, development-oriented government to the entire state.
Our Constitution is a very flexible one and has provisions for taking care of the regional and other special characteristics of a state and then protecting them. For example, Article 164 provides that in the states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (to be read now as Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha) it is mandatory to have a minister in charge of tribal welfare as a member of the Council of Ministers. Under Article 371, the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat are divided into three regions each (Vidarbha, Marathwada and the rest of Maharashtra in case of Maharashtra and Saurashtra, Kutch and the rest of Gujarat for Gujarat). Each region is constitutionally required to have a development board and the Constitution provides for equitable allocation of funds for development expenditure in these regions, as also adequate facilities for technical education, vocational education and opportunity for employment in the services. The special responsibility for these regions vests in the governor and to that extent the governor has discretionary powers in which he is not necessarily bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers.
Similarly under Article 371A, there are special provisions for Nagaland regarding application of the laws of Parliament, law and order, setting up of regional councils, etc. A properly elected and functioning government in J&K can negotiate with the central government for specific provisions regarding the state which would protect its special interests whilst strengthening the bond with India. This is a golden opportunity offered to the nation by the people of J&K which would virtually eliminate Pakistan as an effective player in Kashmir. Let our politicians not throw this opportunity away to purse their own narrow political agenda and instead, by showing statesmanship, remove the last barriers to the psychological and spiritual assimilation of the state of Jammu & Kashmir.
M N Buch, a former civil servant, is chairman, National Centre for Human Settlements and Environment, Bhopal;
E-mail: buchnchse@yahoo.com