Trifurcation, Reorganisation and Autonomy

By Prof. Bal Raj Madhok

Jammu and Kashmir state, when it acceded to India on October 26, 1947, had a total area of 84,471 square miles. It got bifurcated between India and Pakistan on January 1, 1949 when unilateral ceasefire ordered by Pt. Nehru left about 30,000 square miles area of the state including whole of Gilgit (about 15,000 square miles), Baltistan minus Kargil and Drass belt (12,00 square miles) and the Punjabi and Pahari speaking belt along the Jehlam river including Mirpur and Muzzafrabad districts and a major part of Poonch Jagir (about 3,000 square miles) in the defacto control of Pakistan.

It did not include any part of the Kashmiri-speaking valley of Kashmir. It is therefore wrong to describe Pak-occupied territory as “Azad Kashmir. Communist China occupied about 15,000 square miles area of the Ladakh region of the State around 1959. As a result, Jammu and Kashmir State got trifurcated among India, Pakistan and China leaving only about 30,000 square miles area of this vast State under de jure and de facto control of India. It is unfortunate that political leaders and the Indian media have virtually forgotten this forced trifurcation of the state.

Part of State that remained with India includes Jammu, the homeland of Dogras and the base from which Raja Gulab Singh operated to build this vast kingdom, Kashmir valley, The homeland of Kashmiri speaking- people of the state and truncated Ladakh. Besides these three distinct regions Punjabi-Pahari speaking Uri-Titwal belt that divides Kashmir from PoK and Balti-speaking Dras-Kargil belt which divides Ladakh from Pak-occupied Baltistan are also under Indian control. For administrative purposes, Uri-Titwal has been tagged on to Kashmir and Dras-Kargil to Ladakh. With maximum length of 80 miles and maximum width of 40 miles Kashmir is the smallest and Ladakh is the biggest of these three regions.

The Kashmir Valley is surrounded on all sides by high Himalayan ranges which remain snow-bound for many months. All these three passes in the Pir Panjal range which link Kashmir valley with Jammu - Banihal, Nandi Murg and Sinthan - are about 10,000 feet above sea level. The only pass that links it with Ladakh-the Yojila Pass - is about 13,000 feet above sea level. Because of this geographical seclusion, Kashmir all through the history, has remained either a separate kingdom or separate province of the empire built by Ranjit Singh till 1846 when it was acquired by Gulab Singh. Kashmiri, the language of Kashmir, is a developed language drawn from Vedic Sanskrit like most other languages of India. Its distinct socio-cultural identity is often described as Kashmiriat. Its capital city, Srinagar, built by Emperor Ashok in about 250 B.C., was made summer capital of his vast kingdom by Gulab Singh in 1846.

Ladakh lying to the East of Kashmir across the Himalayas is also known as Little Tibet. It has become the biggest center of Lamaist Buddhism since the occupation of Tibet of China. It attracts pilgrims and tourists from all over the world. Its people speak Bodhi language which is written in Tibetan form of Devnagari script. Their representative organisation - the Ladakh Buddhist Association - submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Nehru soon after State’s accession to India for separation from Kashmir and direct rule from Delhi.

Jammu region extending from Punjab planes to Pir Panjal range is inhabited by Dogras who are known for their martial qualities and constitute an important constituent of the Indian Armed Forces. Quit Kashmir movement launched by Sheikh Abdullah in 1946 was aimed against them and their Dogra ruler. That added to the distrust of the Dogra people of Jammu for Abdullah and his Kashmiri followers. Jammu Praja Parishad first raised the demand for delinking of Jammu from Kashmir and devolution of power to the people of Jammu as early as 1948.

It is thus clear that demand for reorganisation of the State on the basis of unalterable geography and ground realities and devolution of power to the people of the three regions goes back to the time of accession of the State to India. To hand over the administration of whole State to Sheikh Abdullah who had no locus standi outside Kashmir valley was a grave blunder. His demand for special status for the whole State was not acceptable to the people of Jammu and Ladakh. That is why opposition to incorporation of temporary Article 370 in the Indian Constitution began from the day one. The refusal of the Indian government to pay heed to this demand added to the distrust of people of Jammu and Ladakh about the bonafides of Sheikh Abdullah.

Opposition of Farooq Abdullah to the reorganisation of the State on the basis of geography and devolution of power to the people of Jammu, Ladakh and the Kashmir valley is a legacy of Sheikh Abdullah. During a great famine in Kashmir, around 1900 thousands of Kashmiri Muslims had migrated to the Doda area of Jammu across the Pir Panjal range. They multiplied fast and now constitute about 50 per cent of the population of Doda district. They have emotional and linguistic links with Kashmir and want to be a part of it. But geographical hurdle of Pir Panjal mountain stands in the way. Farooq, therefore, wants to make it a separate region of the state through division of Jammu region on communal lines. His approach is totally communal, parochial and anti-secular.

Due to over-representation given to the Kashmir valley in the State Assembly, Kashmiri Muslims have developed a kind of imperialistic tendency to dominate Jammu and Ladakh. Process of Islamisation of not only Kashmir but also Jammu and Ladakh has been going on side by side. As a result, Ladakh is on the verge of losing its distinct Buddhist identity. The growing grip of Kashmiri Muslims on the administration of Jammu is a major factor in extension of Islamic terrorism to Jammu. This has made the people of Jammu including its non-Kashmiri Muslim population desperate.

They now want complete administrative de-link of Jammu from Kashmir through reorganisation of the state and formation of separate Jammu state. It would be bigger in area and population-wise and economically more viable than Uttaranchal Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. People of Jammu and Ladakh do not want any kind of special status and more autonomy. But they would not oppose special status for Kashmir valley within the framework of the Indian Constitution. Farooq Abdullah cannot be allowed to impose autonomy of his conception on Jammu and Ladakh. To describe reorganisation of the state on the basis of geography and ground realities given above as trifurcation of the state on communal lines is to betray a communal, anti-secular and anti-national mindset.

The problem of resettlement of about half a million Kashmiri Hindus who have been driven out from Kashmir during the last 50 years particularly since 1989 and a new set-up for Punjabi speaking-Uri Titwal belt which has little in common with Kashmir’s ticklish. Kashmiri Pandits cannot go back to their original homes scattered allover the Valley. Their demand for a well-demarcated secure area in the southern part of the Valley is reasonable and justifiable. A high-powered commission must be set up to find a workable solutions of this problem. Uri-Titwal can be made an autonomous district or a Union Territory.

The developing situation in and about Jammu and Kashmir demands that policy-makers and opinion-makers of India adopt a positive, secular and feasible approach regarding the demand for reorganisation of the State and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Hindus in Kashmir.

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