Asem Mohiuddin
Kashmiris have always been anti Jammu and anti Dogra. The political situations have only made them change the goalposts. So there is no way the warring communities can ever live together in peace, a belief that is being gradually percolated through a particular segment of society in Jammu.
Thanks to Prof Hari Om.
The heretic historian of Jammu sometimes distorts even the facts and manipulates conveniently. He authored books, wrote hundreds of articles in vernacular regional press and in some of his likeminded publications to garner the support for his idea of reasserting Dogra pride that he believes is older than the history of Kashmir.
“The history of Jammu is older than Kashmir. It was part of Indus civilization but the Kashmir centric leadership to sustain its rule has undermined its history and polity over the years,” he says.
The autocratic rule of Dogras over erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir is a pride for him and he accuses Kashmiri leadership in general and Muslims in particular for portraying Maharaja’s in bad light.
“It was Mughal ruler Akbar who started economic exploitation of Kashmiris irrespective of religious beliefs under Bagaer and Maharaja abolished it and paid every labourer who worked under his rule,” professor contests the historical facts that Dogra rulers exploited and disempowered the Muslim subjects under its rule.
Professor backs his claims and says that his writings on Dogra rule are purely based on the archives and all those Muslims who have written books are based on concocted stories and convenient narratives to benefit the Muslim rulers.
Professor Hari Om was formerly in BJP and is presently patron of Ikjut Jammu which was formed a few years ago to back his idea. He encouraged the likeminded people to join under the banner to fight for the Dogra desh.
Last week, Ikjut Jammu was registered as a political party and its leadership is planning to field the candidates in all Assembly constituencies of Jammu whenever elections are held.
The party president Ankur Sharma officially says it will not field any candidate in Muslim majority Kashmir and party’s core ideology does not endorse Chenab valley as a region.
“There is no Chenab valley. If for a few mountains you describe Chenab as a valley then there are countless valleys in Jammu and Kashmir,” says Professor Hari Om. “It was an idea of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to create a ‘Greater Kashmir’ to sustain his role and ignore the Hindu population of Jammu region”.
From history to polity to governance now Professor Hari Om talks about everything and defends his ideology with half truths.
He claims Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah indoctrinated the hatred among the minds of Kashmiri people against Dogras and every Kashmiri now is an anti Dogra.
“The people of Kashmir are filled with hate against we people and political leadership in Kashmir worked on it systematically.
“We have been removed from the political space and later from the administration of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. “All jobs and developmental works went to Kashmir valley and Jammu was left high and dry,” he says.
Professor believes that now the time has come to reclaim the so-called Dogra identity and establish a separate Dogra desh in Jammu.
He is convinced that this will soon happen now since all his past predictions have proven right. “We are little far from what I have predicted and demanded decades ago. You can even read the RSS resolution of 2002 in which it suggests separating Jammu and Kashmir. So RSS is doing all what I was demanding for a long time”.
Professor and his party accuse Kashmiris of altering the demography of Jammu region and perceive them as a threat to Dogra identity. But he is not ready to accept it when asked personally.
“I can’t hate anyone who belongs to another religion. They have the right to live with dignity.”
Professor sees no hope in the future integration of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh region. Rather, he says one more split is in offing and it will happen anytime soon.
“Jammu will be a separate state soon. And Kashmir will stay forever a conflict zone and will have different parameters to handle by Government of India unless a narrative at local level changes with organic political leadership in control,” he predicts, adding that the differences have grown so high between the two sides that it will never stay integrated territory now.
