Asem Mohiuddin
On first April when Kashmir woke up amid the global lockdown to combat Coronovirus that has crippled the world, it had something more to worry about. An executive order was passed by the Union Home Ministry securing level 4 jobs for the domicile of Jammu and Kashmir and left all the level 1, 2 and 3 open for competition at country level. The order was further elaborated and defining the domiciles of Union Territory. The executive order kept the tap of 15 years for any Indian citizen, 10 years for those working in Jammu and Kashmir in central government department, semi and autonomous organizations and 7 years for the children who have appeared in class 10/12 exams in UT.
The first reactions appeared on social media along with the copy of order terming it an April fool for the people of UT. While the social media flooded with the criticism against this decision of Union government, the more who felt its heat was a recently launched Apni Party in Kashmir and state unit of BJP in Jammu. A woman in Jammu took to the social media and warned of mass protests after the lockdown is over on April 14 over Covid-19.
“Those people who voted BJP to secure 24 seats in Jammu will now bring it down to zero. This is anti youth policy and unacceptable to us,” she said in her video that went viral on social media.
The BJP unit shared equal concerns over the executive order and internally raised their concerns with the party’s Jammu Kashmir incharge Ram Madhav. Madhav latter admitted to The Hindu that the concerns raised by the Jammu Kashmir unit are genuine.
This was all happening in Jammu where the BJP had an overwhelming majority in the previous 2014 polls. The fears of backlash were visible and the ground beneath the feet of party was slipping. Despite this grim situation in Jammu, no party leader dared to speak openly against what they termed as ‘anti youth policy’.
Many of these BJP leaders insisted media houses to oppose this policy but refused to officially get their statements recorded. The point was who will bell the cat. In Kashmir region, as the anger was simmering among the various pro India political shades, Apni party that has majority of its leaders from the Peoples Democratic Party felt cheated. The senior party leader Mohammad Rafi Mir late in the afternoon told media that Prime Minister Narender Modi cheated them.
The party last month after having its formal announcement in Srinagar left for New Delhi and held a meeting with Prime Minister Narender Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah separately. Following the two meetings, the delegation of 24 leaders from the party were assured that fears of the people commonly in both regions of losing jobs and land would be addressed and a reasonable economic policy would be drafted for the socioeconomic development of Union Territory.
The ‘betrayal’ for Apni Party was quite disheartening and could have potentially jeopardized the future of Apni Party owing to which the party president Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari met Union Home Minster Amit Shah and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
“It was around 9 PM on Friday Altaf Sahab got a phone call from Amit Shah and told him that the job is done,” said one of the party insider. “An hour later, the order with an amendment was uploaded on the official website of MHA.”
“Any person who fulfils the following conditions shall be a domicile of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the purposes of appointment to any post under the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir,” the revised notification reads.
Apni Party seized the victory and the anger seething beneath the surface was subsided in both the regions.
“It is true that Altaf Bukhari intervened and took the matter seriously with the MHA. There was a strong opposition in Delhi circles who were not willing to bring any amendments in the executive order. But Bukhari strongly pleaded the case and the anger in Jammu’s BJP unit helped his cause,” sources from Delhi told The Legitimate.
But Apni Party claims that BJP’s state unit got exposed for its double standard. It was earlier supporting the Jammu and Kashmir (adaptation of state laws) reorganization order 2020 but later when we sought its amendments and got done, the BJP changed its position and tried to seek its credit,” claims the senior Apni Party leader.
Anil Gupta, State spokesperson BJP while commenting on the amendment said that the BJP is not villain and anti youth. “We care for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir and we have put our efforts to ensure amendment is made to secure all the jobs for the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir.”
However, what has come as a shock there was little criticism from the oldest political Party National Conference. The party vice president Omar Abdullah termed it “Insult heaped on injury.” Omar questioned the timing of order and said when we shall have been more serious about combating the Covid-19 pandemic; the centre formed a fresh law that is injurious for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
““Talk about suspect timing. At a time when all our efforts and attention should be focused on the COVID19 outbreak the government slips in a new domicile law for J&K. Insult is heaped on injury when we see the law offers none of the protections promised,” Abdullah tweeted.
Ironically, there have been no serious efforts by the party to convince New Delhi for its amendment.
Rather some people connected the release of Abdullah’s and the issuing of order by centre government.
“First Dr. Farooq Abdullah was released and then Omar Abdullah. Now we got this order from New Delhi. What is it, deal?” one social media user posted on facebook and was shared by dozens others.
But the resentment is still intact among some quarters in Jammu and Kashmir. Shafiq Mir, All Jammu and Kashmir Panchayat Conference Chairman tossed down the political leadership of Kashmir. He said those who are happy with peanuts can’t be expecting big.
“The jobs are left for only the domiciles of Jammu and Kashmir, but anyone can be the domicile of Jammu and Kashmir. Some people habitually of seeing happiness in peanuts can’t be expecting big from Delhi,” he posted on social media.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however have also shown its displeasure with the law. The party spokesman Firdous Tak said that the fresh domicile law despite its amendment is a dangerous design to alter the demography.
“The way in which the union government proclaimed a new job and domicile policy for the erstwhile state now clearly indicates people at the helm of affairs in New Delhi are dealing with Jammu and Kashmir very casually and without application of mind,” Tak issued the statement.
The former legislature from the party said that: “The basics of domicile law now remains unchanged whereby people from outside the union territory, who have been residing here for 15 years, the employees of central government and PSUs and others will get an equal opportunity to compete for the limited jobs in the government sector”, he added.
