The National Conference led by party president Faruq Abdullah released several demands for the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir at a meeting on Tuesday. Among the needs were the usual clamor for the reinstating of Article 370, which granted J&K several special privileges and full statehood.
Also, the National Conference called upon the Centre to allocate them a special tourism package and a legal guarantee to slash prices for essential commodities. All in all, there were seven demands made. How the Modi government responds to these demands and negotiates is yet to be seen.
The Demands
J&K has had a troubled history since India’s independence when the princely state’s king,
Hari Singh decided to side with the nation to aid against a relentless Pakistani onslaught.
Since then, there has been an unhealthy admixture of constantly simmering low-intensity conflict and political hobnobbing.
A surge in homegrown militancy in the 90s ensured that whatever party formed the government in the Centre maintained a somewhat hawkish policy towards it. Thus, it is not surprising that the current government has continued this posture, albeit with many incentives and benefits for the Kashmiri people. But strife has also increased, hence the National Conference’s everyday demands.
Farooq Abdullah, a very vocal critique of the way the rest has treated his state of India argued during the meeting that J&K has been “downgraded and downsized by bifurcating it into two union territories disrupting the social fabric, integrity and composite culture of the erstwhile state.” A very unique feature of J&K was the Darbar system, under which the civil secretariats used to work from two headquarters in Srinagar and Jammu respectively and shift between each.
The practice was ended by the Lt Governor only last year but the NC wants it back, stressing that the 149-year-old approach not only enabled people from diverse sections of the state to share their culture with each other but also engendered a fabric of social harmony. Indeed, looking at the various communities that call J&K home-like Dogras, Ladakhis, Kashmiris and many more, one has to consider the merits of such a practice.
The NC also promised a tremendous boost in J&K’s tourism industry package if voted
into power. More places would be speculated upon and developed as part of this package, especially in Jammu and the Kashmir regions. Furthermore, they also said that they stand with the farmers on the issue of Minimum Support Price, demanding compensation for the crops destroyed in hailstorms and other natural calamities.
According to the party, their fight is fair, and they have thrown their total weight behind it.
The Wisdom of Engagement
Regarding the problem of unemployment in Kashmir, the National Conference claimed that it was at an all-time high at around 22.2% and that the government needs to rethink its policy regarding
providing jobs to the youth who are currently sitting idle and, in the process, of becoming overage. It is one of the most logical demands made in the series of resolutions.
Looking at the recent spate of militancy and terror attacks in J&K, as well as investigations by security agencies which revealed local collusion with non-state actors, there needs to be some severe availability of jobs in the union territory. The Centre may not want to restore full statehood to it yet, but it definitely should consider adding a few more incentives along
with the ones already present. That said, the National.
Conference headed by Farooq Abdullah happens to be one of the key players in the troubled region of J&K and the BJP government should at least engage with them keeping the list of demands in mind so that some semblance of peace maybe restored to this Paradise on Earth.
