Three Culprits of Kashmir Imbroglio

Omar Abdulla, The Chief Minister of Jammu Kashmir has recently announced that if the Union Government tinkers with the article 370 without consent of State Government, Kashmir will not be part of India. He said ‘Either J&K wil not be part of India or article 370 will exist’.It was a shocking statement in response of Minister of State In PM office Dr Jatender Rana making a suggestion that the process of discussion about this article need to be started. Earlier Narender Modi had also said it and there was sharp reaction from Kashmir leaders. Why India has fallen in this mess and who is responsible for it?

Article 371 was inserted in Indian Constitution at the instance of Shiekh Abdullah and Jawahar LaL Nehru the then Prime Minister of India.Historical Background of the article related to relative local freedom granted by the British to Indian states who were paying yearly fee  in return for British patronage and defense. British interfered in the states whenever they liked but left most of the local matters to the ruler. The original folly was committed by Mahraja Hari Singh who wanted to delay the accession of Kashmir and remain a King of the autonomous state. He dreamt of Kashmir being Switzerland without realization the geopolitics. In the instrument of accession it  was mentioned as was being done earlier with British that except defence foreign affairs and communication etc all matters will require the concurrence of the state government for making laws applicable to them. This instrument was the basis  of the section 370 of Indian Constitution.

While three culprits Hari Singh, Jawahar lal Nehru and Shiekh Abdulla are responsible to perpetuate this anomaly on India when out of 465 states of erstwhile Rajas were merged except one i.e. Kashmir. Junagarh had declared allegiance to Pakistan but when the state faced virtual embargo from neighboring territory the ruler ran away to Pakistan. Similarly Hyderbad and Goa had been brought into integration by using show of force. A great job was accomplished by Sardar Patel. When bringing this special provision made Sardar Patel and Dr. B.R.Ambedkar dissatisfied with the provision Nehru had removed the Kashmir Port folio from Patel and brought in Gopalaswamy Aiyyangar, an Indian administrative  officer who worked with Maharaja of Kahmir as his Prime Minister, to draft this and execute the section. Patel offered to resign but as usual Gandhi ji was brought in who prevailed on him to put up with it. The dissent of Dr Ambedkar was very forceful in what he told Shiekh Abdulla “ Mr. Abdullah you want that India should defend you, India should develop Kashmir and Kashmiris have equal rights as Indian Citizen of India but you don’t want Indian citizen to have any rights in Kashmir, I am law Minister of India and I cannot betray the interest of my country”. Such bold and honest Politicians also existed in those days.

Step by step the interest of the country was sacrificed and the main culprits were Shiekh Abdulla and Jawarlal Nehru. Every other state merged with India and Kashmir had a suspended relationship and was also allowed to have its own flag in 1952 by Nehru.The orginal flag showed three triangles depicting Jammu,Ladakh and Kashmir which have been changed. Nehru assured that this is a temporary arrangement and will wither away . But after more than five decades about 135 laws including RTI Act, Human Rights Commission,  Welfare legislation, Indian Penal Code , Prevention of corruption are not applicable in the state and there is  rampant corruption in the state. Even the provision of Permanent Resident rules of the state are subject of great debate .Neither outsiders can buy property nor they can settle there. But more than this if the daughter of state subject marries to Indian citizen she cannot inherit property from her parents. While high court annulled this,  a  state legislation was brought to fortify it. That too not succeeding, the government is using its discretition to grant PR status to a person or not. My wife who was born in Jammu laments that she  has no right on her state.This is perpetual injustice to citizens.

If Modi government back tracks from its resolve it would be great set back to the process of integration of the state. In fact it is leading to terrorism and encouragement to all anti national elements in Kashmir. No one gains from this except those who want status quo for retaining their hold on the land.

It is high time that Modi Government sets the ball rolling to clearly enunciate the pros and cons and educate Kashmiris on  how much they are losing. Time has come process of change to begin with debate and education.