Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive border State. It is also strategically very vital for the country’s defence. It has to be handled with utmost care considering the fact that both Pakistan and China have their evil eyes on it: Pakistan wants to Islamise Himalayas to destroy India and China says that parts of Ladakh belong to it. Unfortunately, however, it has not been happening. What has been happening is just to the contrary. Elements in the political establishment and administration and outside have been working overtime to weaken the nationalist constituency in the State and directly and indirectly changing its demographic profile. And, it is not a new phenomenon.
Ironically, it all started in October 1947, when Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh took a momentous decision to merge his Princely State with India using powers vested with him by the Indian Independence Act of 1947 and at a time when the Indian Army had the Pakistani invaders, both regular and irregular, on the run. To appease the protagonist of plebiscite and an ardent believer in the concept of three-nation (Hindu, Muslim and Kashmiri Muslim) Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah of the Kashmir-based National Conference, the Government of Jawaharlal Nehru allowed Pakistan to grab one/third of Jammu & Kashmir territories comprising what we term Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan – both strategically very crucial for the security of India. In fact, Delhi handed over these territories to Pakistan on a platter.
The mind-boggling decision to enforce ceasefire not only helped Sheikh Abdullah get rid of the non-Kashmiri-speaking areas and rule the state unhindered for five years (1948-1953), but also created a situation that helped Pakistan convert Muzaffarabad (administratively part of Kashmir Division) and Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimber and parts of Poonch in Jammu province into 100 per cent Muslim. These were the areas where the number of Hindus and Sikh was quite substantial. Thousands of Hindus and Sikhs were murdered in cold-blood. Thousands were converted and several lakh migrated to Jammu province and other parts of the country, including Delhi and Punjab, to escape the wrath of the votaries of two-nation theory. (Sheikh Abdullah didn’t allow a single Hindu or Sikh to migrate from Muzaffarabad to Kashmir, despite the fact that it was part of Kashmir province.) These were also the areas which remained under Muslim rule for centuries, but no Muslim ruler could succeed in ridding these areas of all the “Kafirs”. That one-third of the Jammu and Kashmir territory would go to Pakistan and would turn 100% Muslim in just 14 months (October 20, 1947-December 31-1948) constituted two major failures of the Independent India in a region, which had been secured by Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab, Dogras of Jammu and the British Government considering the strategic importance of India’s Northern Frontier. The eye witnesses’ accounts of what happened in these areas during those 14 months of loot, plunder, murder, kidnapping, rape, conversion and migration are just heart-wrenching – a big blot on humanity. The end of 101-year Dogra rule in October 1947 also created a serious situation in Kashmir as far as the survival of the Hindus was concerned. Convinced that the state apparatus under Sheikh Abdullah was patently pro-Muslim, Kashmiri Hindus started migrating to Jammu and other places. Several colonies came up in Jammu immediately after 1948. However, it was in January 1990 that the entire community of Kashmiri Hindus quit their homes and hearths and migrated to Jammu and the Valley turned 100% Muslim. It was the sixth and perhaps the last exodus of Hindus from Kashmir. It is hardly necessary to catalogue here the causes which resulted in the exodus of Hindus from Kashmir. Suffice to say that they quit their age-old habitat to save their lives, culture, religion and dignity and demonstrate their unflinching love for and commitment to India. That Kashmir, which was 100 per cent Hindu till 1339, became 100 per cent Muslim in 1990 was the third major failure of the Indian State. What has been happening in Kashmir since the exodus of Hindus is too well-known and, hence, no need to reflect on the evil consequences. The protagonists of Jammu and Kashmir’s independence from India and its merger with Pakistan had believed that the exodus of Hindus from Kashmir would help them achieve what they called their most cherished dream of becoming independent of India but it didn’t happen. For, Jammu and Ladakh resisted and defeated all their sinister moves. Determined as they were to push forward their sinister agenda, they started playing their dirty games both in Jammu and Ladakh, particularly after 1994. Their objective was to create a Kashmir-like situation in both these regions, as they believed that such a situation alone could help them achieve their break-India goal.
They have succeeded in changing the demographic landscape of Ladakh to a considerable extent by settling Tibetan and other Muslims, especially from Kashmir, and this can be seen from the fact that this trans-Himalayan region, which was not till so-long-ago predominantly Buddhist, has lost its old character. The position right now is that the proportion of the Buddhists and Muslims (predominantly Shiite Muslims) is almost evenly balanced. The silver-lining is that the votaries of Pakistan have utterly failed to influence the nationalist psyche of the Shiite Muslims. The reasons are obvious and one of the most important reasons is that the Islamic State of Pakistan, which is under the baneful influence of Jamait-e-Islami and similar other radical Islamic outfits, doesn’t consider Shiite Muslims as true Muslims and that their co-religionists are being persecuted in Gilgit-Baltistan, parts of Ladakh region till 1947-1948. The fact of the matter is that the people of Ladakh have shown thumb to Kashmiri separatists and half-separatists of all hues.
Ladakh is represented in the Parliament by the BJP and its Autonomous Hill Development Council controlled by the BJP. As for the Ladakhi representation in the Assembly, three out of four MLAs are from the Congress and the remaining fourth seat is represented by an independent MLA.
What about the highly strategic Jammu, which, like Ladakh, constitutes the nation’s backbone in Jammu and Kashmir? Here the situation is critical. Demographic changes are going on at a rapid pace all across the international border from Kathua to Sunderbani. The border districts of Poonch and Rajouri have virtually gone the Kashmir way as far as their demography is concerned. Hindus and Sikhs in their thousands have migrated to Jammu and the process is on. The result is Poonch has turned almost 95 per cent Muslim and Rajouri almost 70 per cent. The situation in Jammu’s Jammu and Samba districts adjoining International Border is also very frightening. Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslins have been settled in these two districts. Only a decade ago, there were just two Muslim localities in Jammu City – Talab Khatikan and Ustad Mohalla. Today, there are more than a dozen Muslim colonies within the city and its outskirts. Some of them include Gujjar Nagar, Ramzanpura, Hyderabad, Bathindi, Firdousabad, Jalalabad, Malik Market and Qasim Nagar. These are all massive colonies and house mostly Muslims from Kashmir. And if the statement of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is any indication, then there would be many more colonies coming up around Jammu city in the State and Forest Land. She has ordered the Deputy Commissioners not to disturb those who have illegally occupied these State and Forest lands and declared that her government would set up clusters with all facilities, including medical and education. It may appear unbelievable but it is a fact that 2.10 lakh Kanal of State and Forest land has been grabbed by politicians, including ministers, bureaucrats, police officials and many undesirable elements and an overwhelming majority of them belong to Kashmir. During the regime of Omar Abdullah, 39, 829 encroachers of State land were granted ownership rights. As for Kashmir, the total number of encroachers of the State land was 10,328 and the land under their illegal occupation measured only 19,293 kanals. The grant of ownership in Kashmir fetched Rs 54.17 crore.
Just compare the scale of loot and plunder of the State land in Jammu province, particularly in Jammu, Kathua and Samba Districts (all overwhelmingly Hindu), and Kashmir province, including Ladakh, and you will see the difference, and also conclude the purpose behind the encroachment of the State land in Jammu was sinister. How could it happen that encroachers would encroach 2.10 lakh kanal of State land in Jammu and get ownership by paying a paltry sum of Rs 24.25 crore, while in Kashmir, the encroachers would encroach only 19,293 kanal of State land and would pay Rs 54.17 crore to get occupancy rights. The Comptroller and Auditor General described this loot and plunder of the State and Forest lands as the “biggest land scam”. The point is that the authorities in the State are encouraging encroachment of State and forest lands. It’s no wonder then that nationalist constituency in Jammu is feeling threatened and insecure and saying day-in and day-out that Jammu would lose its Hindu-majority character in 10 years if the authorities continued to encourage migration of Muslims from Kashmir and foreign countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. This is one issue. The other issue is national security. The fast-changing demographic landscape of Jammu has all the potential of geopardising national security. It is hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval would sit up without losing a moment to review the developing situation in Jammu and evolve a policy that stops demographic changes and ensures that Jammu doesn’t go the Kashmir way. Delhi can ignore the demographic invasion on Jammu only at its own peril.