Eventually the state government has put all the speculations of granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 371 at rest on Sunday. The government spokesperson issued a statement to the press late in the evening and said that there is no such proposal under consideration at the state level or at the centre. Rather it added in its statement that Union Home ministry has equally grounded such reports.
The clarification has come at a time when Delhi based national newspapers had reported that back channel talks with the incarcerated political leadership are going on to consider granting special status to erstwhile state under Article 371. Article 371 of Indian Constitution guarantees certain special rights to the people of North East to protect their culture, language and resources.
While the government was swift in rejecting such reports in the national media, it however didn’t issue any rebuttal to one more story circulating in media. As per the story the Centre is planning to raise the domicile status for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and will make mandatory for all those who wish to earn the residency of these two union territories to have lived there for fifteen years.
The media, reports, however, suggest that the proposal is still under consideration and not cleared yet. This proposal also suggests having certain relaxations for the civil service servants and industrialists who are ready to invest in the state. Ancillary colonies are likely to be built for those industrialists in addition of offering them the land for industrial purposes.
On the other side the state administration has also identified over 50000 kanals of land for industrial purposes amid the ongoing preparations for global investor’s summit in UT. While these measures deserve the appreciation and can in long way help the UT to fight the rising level of unemployment and may set the new dawn of peace and prosperity, however, Delhi must think beyond that.
Since August 5, when the Union government redrew the map of Jammu and Kashmir, it has not shown its future plans for the region. There is no blueprint as how it wants to work out the political and economic modalities in the region. There is complete dilemma in Jammu, Kashmir and Ladkah. The prevailing suspense has left the political space barren in Jammu and Kashmir. The local mainstream political class is blank and have nothing to promise or deliver since Delhi directly controls the region after downgrading it as Union Territory.
The ray of hope on Sunday appeared in Chandigarh when National General Secretary of BJP, Ram Madhav in a military literary festival said that political leaders in Kashmir would be soon released. Madhav, however, said the dialogue with the local leadership could only be possible when they agree. It cannot be a one side process and we are exploring other ways to reach out. It has been now five months with all political and economic activities suspended in Kashmir. On the other side, Delhi admits that holding elections in Jammu and Kashmir is a national necessity.
In any democracy, in its any region halt on a democratic process for too long is not a good omen. Rather, it adds to the vacuum. So the Delhi must concentrate on Kashmir now and have a fresh political inning bringing all the stakeholders on board. With collective efforts, the region could be taken out of morass but halting the polity can further deteriorate the situation. In democracy, the people cannot be denuding of elected leadership for so long.
This editorial published first in print edition of December 18, 2019.
