Valley has during 2024 polls for 18th Lok Sabha surely sent encouraging signals of returning peace & stability
Have the “distancing” ideologies built in ‘Self Rule’ & ‘Achievable Nationhood’ too been shed by their ‘Carriers’ ?
Hope soon clear line will be drawn between mainstream & separatist ideologies by the Political Leadership of India
Daya Sagar
Government of India had taken up after 2014 the so far considered impossible task of removing the myths, ‘removing the cultivated’ distancing symbols & expressions related to the events after passage of Indian Independence Act in relation to the erstwhile princely state of J&K and misrepresentation of constitutional provisions like Art-35A & Art-370 as far as their use for the good of the people Indian State of J&K was concerned and have been able to make some meaningful in roads. As been utmost need for derecognizing in simple words any ideologies or documents that depicted even a bit of distancing indicators or concepts that professed directly or indirectly anything like J&K not being an ‘India’ state like UP or Punjab / there was some left over agenda related to Accession -1947. To be brief a very clear line and opinion has to be expressed by GOI for taking note, by one and all, of which is mainstream and which is Separatist ideology since the culture of deferring remedial measures for such corrections in earlier times had surely made the innocent subjects of J&K to get carried in their subconscious minds with the myths related to ‘relationship’ with India since the policies so far have kept people confused in relations to drawing a line between mainstream & separatist ( from nationalist point of view ) ideologies like the viewpoints expressed in PDP Self Rule Framework for Resolution (2008) and J&K Peoples Conference vision “Achievable Nationhood 2006” with mainstream label unless the promoters come up with re articulated documents publicly.
Taking self away from Autonomy of J&K National conference Jammu & Kashmir- The Self-Rule Framework for Resolution (Srinagar October, 2008 ) at Para 58 says < What sets apart “self-rule” from “autonomy” is the political context in which they are conceived and operate. Self-rule refers to autonomy from the nation-state of India, whereas autonomy connotes relative autonomy from the Government of India. The two are vastly different in substance and style. The change — from “autonomy” to self-rule” — means is a fundamental shift in the terrain of political discourse and the existing status of the Kashmir issue. Also see for more elaboration 59 . Autonomy refers to empowerment of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir vis-a-vis the Government of India. As such it becomes a part of the centre-state debate in the Indian federal set up. Self-rule on the other hand refers to the empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, vis-a-vis the nation of India. 60. Further, autonomy is for an institution of governance, self-rule is for a region, or geography. Therefore, while autonomy doesn’t have a territorial element to it, the concept of self-rule has an element of territoriality to it. Para 62> professing Autonomy of J&K State from Indian Nation State. And this ‘mantra’ ( Self Rule ) surely diluted the totalness of the 1947 accession of J&K with India thereby finding better acceptability amongst some innocent people as compared to Greater Autonomy of National Conference that called for just autonomy for govt. of the state from the central govt.
Group of Interlocutors for J&K Final Report 2011 (A new compact with the people of Jammu & Kashmir ) on page 40 para 2.1. Centre-State Relations compares J&K Peoples Conference vision document 2006 Achievable Nationhood prepared by Sajjad Ahmad Lone with National Conference Autonomy saying “The National Conference wants to revert to the original Article under which the State ceded to the Centre powers related to Defence, External Affairs, Communications and certain ancillary subjects a The People’s Democratic Party wants to build on it by retaining certain features introduced in the pristine Article after 1953 and adding to it a ‘Greater Kashmir’ dimension de facto if not de jure.
Sajjad Lone, in “Achievable Nationhood”, focuses on the ethnic aspirations of the majority group in a particular region, seeks administrative autonomy for districts and wants the choice to ‘opt-out’ of the State in case its majority feels that its interests are better served that way.” >
In J&K Peoples Conference vision document 2006 Achievable Nationhood prepared by Sajjad Ahmad laid a concept of unification of the two parts of Kashmir by producing a “single economic entity” out of “two distinct geographical and political sub-entities” with separate sovereignty linkages with India and Pakistan, as Lone appears saying in the document
J&K PDP just in 3 years from 1999 to 2002 threw challenges on National Conference that Congress had not been able to press in till then . At page 44 point 14 the Interlocutors Report 2011 report says there are two major divergences between the NC and PDP proposals of which the “The first” is that the PDP envisages a solution that will apply on both sides of the LOC while the NC is focused on relations with India. PDPs mantra against NC was the Self Rule vision ( though was put in black and while in public domain on 25 Oct 2008 only) .
And the mantra was of SELF RULE Framework ( SRDoc) in simple terms professed of something like (i) naming the Pakistan Occupied areas of J&K as Pakistan ‘Administered J&K and the remaining part as Indian Administered Jammu & Kashmir (ii) joint control of India & Pakistan on some affairs concerning the State of Jammu & Kashmir PARA 78 of SR Doc . The Regional Council of Greater Jammu and Kashmir (iii) New Political Superstructure: Para 75 (Towards this end, the Legislative Council will be restructured to form the Regional Council of Greater Jammu and Kashmir. It will be a kind of a regional senate. Para 77. The Regional Council of Greater Jammu and Kashmir will have 50 members. The respective state assemblies of J&K and Pakistan Administered Kashmir shall elect 40 members. The remaining 10 members will be nominated, five each, by the Governments of India and Pakistan. Council for Greater Jammu and Kashmir having 5 members each as nominated by India and Pakistan (iv) Para 7 < Economic Integration: . & Para 8 Stage II would be to make GJAK a regional free trade area, with no tariffs or barriers between with GJAK, while maintaining their own external tariff on imports from the rest of the world, including India and Pakistan. GJAK will set a common external tariff on imports from India and Pakistan.> .(v) Para 9 Validity of currencies of both India and Pakistan in two parts of J&K , (vi) Setting the stage for Resolution: Demilitarisation Para 31< If this is the basic premise, then a decisive move has to be made to reduce not only the physical presence of the armed forces in the state but also their influence in the decision making at a political and administrative level. Even in the sphere of operational matters of security, the armed forces should be a part of the J&K police hierarchy rather than being a parallel institution of power. This entire change is what we refer to under the rubric of “demilitarization”>(vii) Para 59 . Autonomy refers to empowerment of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir vis-a-vis the Government of India. As such it becomes a part of the centre-state debate in the Indian federal set up. Self-rule on the other hand refers to the empowerment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, vis-a-vis the nation of India. 60. Further, autonomy is for an institution of governance, self-rule is for a region, or geography. Therefore, while autonomy doesn’t have a territorial element to it, the concept of self-rule has an element of territoriality to it.
Ideologies like expressed in PDP Self Rule Framework for Resolution (2008) and J&K Peoples Conference vision “Achievable Nationhood 2006” with mainstream would surely keep on confusing the innocent minds unless the promoters have come up with re articulated documents publicly.
(The writer is a Sr. Journalist & a known analyst of J&K affairs)
